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.
Late last month, Hong Kong launched a second round of trials for e-HKD , its digital version of the local banknote. Dubbed e-HKD+ , this pilot program signals that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) aren’t the only objective. Tokenizing bank deposits is also a critical avenue being explored, a direction mirrored by Singapore through its Project Orchid initiative. Both Hong Kong and Singapore are leading the charge toward a new form of digital money that is programmable and capable of rewarding environment-friendly spending or channeling government grants to targeted beneficiaries. This shift hints at a global trend where money serves a social purpose beyond just facilitating commerce. CBDCs work like paperless ATMs, but they could cause disruptions. If wildly adopted, banks might see a decrease in deposits, limiting their ability to lend. To prevent this, caps on withdrawals could be imposed. However, the success of CBDCs remains uncertain, with examples like Chin...