THE local bourse continued to gain traction last Friday, extending gains for the sixth consecutive trading day. Post-Christmas trading, however, was light with 846.5 million shares valued at RM870.1 million changing hands.

The FBM KLCI index gained 0.84% to close at 1,764.44. Market breadth was positive, with gainers outweighing losers by 1.7 to one.

The current rally may be linked to window dressing activities by institutional funds ahead of the year-end portfolio closing. There is also lack of selling pressure by foreign fund managers who are away on holiday.  

Meanwhile, regional markets extended their recovery from last Tuesday’s slump, led by the Shanghai Composite Index which rose 2.77% to 3,157.60. The index has surged nearly 50% year-to-date, largely on speculation of further monetary easing by the central bank to boost its economy after cutting interest rates.

Brent crude and WTI crude are still hovering at the $60 and $55 per barrel levels respectively. Meanwhile, crude palm oil prices rose on concerns flooding in the east coast will affect production.

The ringgit strengthened very slightly against the greenback, and was trading at around 3.49 per US dollar at the time of writing. 

My portfolio started on 8 July 2014 with a capital of RM100,000. Since then, it has outperformed the FBM KLCI by 7.7%, registering an annualized return of 2.0%.

Willowglen, the only stock currently held in the portfolio, increased by 2.8% to 73 sen.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 29, 2014.