KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): The FBM KLCI rose 0.03 point to close at 1,764.03 points after vacillating between gains and losses amid political uncertainty in the UK, Spain and Turkey.

Reuters reported that an early mover was the Turkish lira, where the dollar surged 4 percent at one point to the highest in seven months amid a diplomatic spat with Washington. The US mission in Turkey and subsequently the Turkish mission in Washington mutually reduced visa services after a US mission employee was detained in Turkey last week.

In the UK, it was reported that the pound had popped higher on reports British Prime Minister Theresa May could sack Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as she tries to reassert her authority after a series of political disasters.

Reuters quoted Barclays analysts as saying in a note that events in Spain and the UK "confirm a high level of political uncertainty. For now, the constructive economic developments seem to dominate political risks."

At Bursa Malaysia, the KLCI traded at its intraday high and low at 1,765.48 and 1,762.26 points respectively. At 5pm, the KLCI cut losses on gains in KLCI-component stocks like Genting Malaysia Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd.

Genting Malaysia gained nine sen to close at RM5.47 while Digi was up four sen at RM4.98.

Across Bursa Malaysia, 2.83 billion shares were traded for RM1.71 billion. There were 407 gainers and 367 decliners.

Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd head of research Pong Teng Siew said: “News about the Light Rail Transit 3 (LRT3) contracts that were recently awarded still appears to be propping up some of the construction stocks such as Mudajaya Group Bhd.”