Disclaimer: This research should be used purely for informational purposes and is my own personal opinion. I bear no responsibility to whatever investment decisions taken by anyone with regards to this research.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) today was unchanged at 1,370 points. Top gainers are F&N (+RM0.4), Sinotop (+RM0.2), and HEIM Industries (+RM0.2), while top losers are Petronas Dagangan (-RM0.6), and Petron (-RM0.1).

After declining on last Friday, the market today rose initially during intra-day trading, but pared back its gains by the end of the day to remain unchanged. Regional markets were up especially the Nikkei (+2.7%), Hang Seng (+1.9%) and Singapore Strait Times (+1.4%) as the Bank of Japan said it will adopt unlimited buying of bonds to keep borrowing cost low. The Dow Jones declined by 1.1% on last Friday, as news on the oil markets continue to rattle the economy.

As negative news on oil and growth continue to hit the global economy, I foresee that things are just starting to unfold from now on. I do think the markets in the global economy have not been pricing in the weak demand outlook, and has been buying up the market in fear of missing out (FOMO).

For the Malaysian companies I am keeping track with a Buy call, most of them are still up. The best performing companies in terms of share price are Lotte Chemical Titan (28.8%), Padini (10.0%) and Bermaz Auto (12.9%). To date, the portfolio of companies I am keeping track on have moderated to 4.6% return (24 April 2019: 4.9%). You can have a look at the companies I am keeping track on in the Google Excel sheet here or the table below.