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.
Major video game publishers like Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive are expected to avoid significant impacts from the ongoing strike by voice actors and motion-capture artists due to their in-house studios and long development cycles, according to analysts. The strike, which began last week, is the latest labor action in Hollywood, following last year's strikes by writers and actors seeking protections against AI. This comes at a crucial time for the video game industry, where demand remains weak post-pandemic, with players focusing on major titles. However, the strike is not expected to cause major disruptions. Voice actors and motion-capture artists constitute a small part of the game development process and budget. "When you think about the larger publishers, they'll spend anywhere from three to 10 years working on their larger titles. If something is coming out over the next several quarters, it will have been something that they began production on several ye...