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 Bank of England (BOE) will reduce the cash buffer it holds against losses as it scales back its quantitative easing (QE) bond-buying program . Officials said this move aims to deliver better "value for money" for taxpayers. BOE Governor Andrew Bailey and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves agreed on the adjustments, which follow a reduction in the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) from £895 billion to £655 billion since early 2022. This reduction potentially offered Reeves additional budgetary flexibility for the recent budget plan on October 30 . Background : The BOE initially implemented QE to support economic growth after the 2008 financial crisis and 2020 pandemic , acquiring bonds that have now resulted in projected lifetime losses between £50 billion and £100 billion . Although QE generated a £123 billion profit when interest rates were near zero, it started to incur losses once rates surpassed 2% in 2022. Reeves confirmed that the cash management framework...