Malaysia Portfolio Investment Calls and Stock Market Update (20 April 2020)

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 rose by 0.4% to 1,413 points, compared to the day before of 1.5% (1,407 points). Top gainers for the day are Nestle (+RM2.2), Panasonic (+RM1.7), Dutch Lady (+RM1.7), Carlsberg (+RM1.4), and HEIM Industries (+RM0.7).

The market today grew steadily, with 3 of the top 5 gainers comprising of food&beverages companies such as Nestle, Dutch Lady, and Carlsberg. I think investors are flocking back to these stocks as the Covid-19 pandemic intensity moderates with declining confirmed cases. However, there is an important development taking form this week as oil prices has hit $15 for the first time in 21 years. The WTI crude has hit $14.07 as of 20 Apr 2020 with a whopping 22.66% decline from a day earlier. Remember that in 2014/2015, when oil prices collapse, we saw a similar movement for KLCI and the ringgit. For this week, I see this as a material risk for the market, and it is worth taking a look at this development.

For the Malaysian companies I am keeping track with a Buy call, most of them are up in line with the general market. The best performing companies in terms of share price are Lotte Chemical Titan (30.5%), Padini (18.2%) and Bermaz Auto (16.4%). To date, the portfolio of companies I am keeping track on have improved to 8.5% return (17 April 2019: 7.6%). You can have a look at the companies I am keeping track on in the Google Excel sheet here or the table below.