KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
The U.S. dollar fell sharply Thursday as traders rushed into traditional safe havens like the Japanese yen and Swiss franc, reacting to President Trump’s sweeping new tariff package that intensified fears of a global economic slowdown. Key Market Reactions Currency Move Against USD Japanese Yen (JPY) +0.95% (¥147.99) Swiss Franc (CHF) +0.60% (CHF 0.8787) Euro (EUR) +0.43% (US$1.0875) British Pound (GBP) +0.28% (US$1.3047) Chinese Yuan (CNH) Hit 1-month low offshore Australian Dollar -0.5% (US$0.6268) NZ Dollar -0.26% (US$0.5730) Mexican Peso -0.25% (20.2520 per USD) What Triggered the Move? President Trump announced a 10% universal tariff and higher duties on ~60 countries. Tariffs target major trading partners including China (54%) , Vietnam , Japan , and the EU . Investors fear an escalating global trade war , causing a flight to safety . “The markets are in risk-off mode and pricing in weaker global economic growth.” — Kyle ...