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.
Investors anticipated that strong earnings from tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta Platforms would fuel a rally in the S&P 500. However, despite meeting or exceeding expectations, these results failed to justify the high valuations of the "Magnificent 7" tech stocks. Consequently, the Magnificent 7 index dropped by 1.8% last week, with only Amazon and Alphabet seeing gains. The main issue is the uncertain profit outlook for 2025 , especially as tech companies ramp up heavy spending on AI infrastructure . Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta collectively spent a record $59 billion on capital expenditures last quarter, with plans to continue significant investment in AI computing power. Key takeaways: Microsoft's AI business expects to reach a $10 billion annual revenue rate, yet this growth comes with high costs , leading to a narrow commercial cloud margin. Microsoft’s shares dropped 6.1% after its earnings report due to concerns over...