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 advanced by 2.0% to breach the 1400 level to finish at 1,408 points. Regional markets were all up today with the Jakarta Stock Exchange advancing the most by 3.3%, followed by Nikkei (+2.1%), Singapore Strait Times Index (+1.9%), Stock Exchange of Thailand (+1.5%) and Philippines Stock Exchange (+1.0%). The Dow Jones continued its rally by growing at 2.2%, followed also by the German Stock Exchange at 2.9%.

As expected, the FED maintained its interest rates at current levels and communicated that it will support economic growth in this recessionary environment. Other central banks around the world are expected to maintain their dovish stance too to support growth. I think at this point, no matter what bad economic news hit the global economy, market investors are just turning a blind eye to them. They are more focused on “the light at the end of tunnel”, rather than what is actually happening on the ground. Scott Redler, partner with T3live.com encapsulates this well with the quote below.

“They’re saying I don’t care about that. All they care about is the reopening and how business is going to try to get back to normal, which is a wild card. Right now, bad news is good news and good news is great news, until that changes.”

For the Malaysian companies I am keeping track, most of them are still up. The best performing companies in terms of share price are Lotte Chemical Titan (44.1%), Padini (23.2%) and Bermaz Auto (17.2%). To date, the portfolio of companies I am keeping track on have improved to 7.1% return (29 April 2019: 4.8%). You can have a look at the companies I am keeping track on in the Google Excel sheet here or the table below.