Bad news do come at once. Date is 23 May 2016. The following were all news in the media within the same day. All are bad news indeed.
EPF reports that its investment income has fallen by 36% in Q1 2016 and the whole 2016 would be a tough year. Chief executive officer Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said in a statement: “The investment climate in this quarter was significantly different from the first quarter last year which benefited from better returns from our global investment, particularly from developed equity markets, which compensated for the weak domestic equity market. (Overall, I think what this meant is that the potential returns for 2016 would be lower than 2015.)
Down, down, down. Stock market is down. Total ‘down’ stocks beat the ‘up’ ones by 456 versus 327. FBM KLCI was down by 9 points. This is 0.55 percent. Banking stocks were hit, including Maybank, Public Bank and CIMB. (Look at the stocks on a longer term. Is the business sustainable and doing well but sentiment is positive? Buy accordingly)
Ringgit is down versus all the major currencies too. It has not been doing that well recently even though it started on a good note at the beginning of the year. It’s at US$! to RM4.1210 from RM4.0825 previously. I think all would continue to depend on that largest economy and the actions it will be taking. Watch them closely…
Malaysia’s household debtstood at RM1.03tril or 89.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). Yes, this happens to be one of the highest in the region even if out of the region, Australia has a number which is much higher. It’s over 120 percent currently. (Yes, Australia remains a favourite investment destination to many and install considered safe by many international rating agencies)
Enough bad news for one day? Well, hopefully we will have a very good day. I can then write another article about ‘what a good day for Malaysia.’
written on 24 May 2016
Next suggested article: Malaysian Q1 2016 GDP, slowest since 2009
