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 up by 1.0% to end at 1433 points. Most markets in the Asia region were up, notably Singapore (+1.7%), Thailand (+1.8%), Hong Kong (+1.9%) and Japan (+1.5%). Over in the western economies, the Dow Jones staged its biggest rally, climbing 3.8%. 

Movements in stock markets today were buoyed by positive sentiments from the United States. Moderna Inc has released findings that its vaccine is producing antibodies in Covid-19 patients in their trials. The US is also planning to reopen its economies by the end of the week, to prevent further decline in economic activities. This comes in light of worse-than-expected decline in retail sales activities data in April 2020 (Actual: -16.4%, Forecast: -12.3%). 

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 (50.0%), Padini (33.0%) and Bermaz Auto (17.2%). To date, the portfolio of companies I am keeping track on have improved to 10.2% return (18 May 2020: 8.9%). You can have a look at the companies I am keeping track on in the Google Excel sheet here or the table below.