Trade Shares or Stocks in Bursa Malaysia|How to start Trading | Trade Stocks in Bursa Malaysia | How to Open Trading Account | How to Open CDS Account | What is Collateralised Trading | Discretionary Financing | Share Margin Financing | CDS Share Transfer | Securities Borrowing and Lending (SBL) | Regulated Short Selling (RSS) | Brokerage | Internet Trading Brokerage Discount | Cash Upfront Brokerage Discount | Clearing Fees | Contract Stamp Duties | Bursa Malaysia | Composite Index | Bursa News | Listed Companies News | Market News | Market Outlook

Yes, according to HwangDBS Investment Management’s chief investment officer.

Malaysia’s equities market is on the verge of a bull-run similar to the one seen in the early 1990s and the indications are that it is sustainable, the chief investment officer of HwangDBS Investment Management said.

“Conditions for 2011 are ripe and any pull-back now is an opportunity for investors,” said David Ng, who manages about RM8.9 billion for the fund house.

Malaysia, he said, is “unexpectedly exciting” so long as the government can execute the projects announced in its US$444 billion economic transformation programme last month.

However, Ng cautioned that it would not be a repeat of 2009-2010 where over 90 per cent of stocks rose following the crisis.

“2011 will be about stock-picking,” he said.

The benchmark FBM KLCI has risen by almost 20 percent since the start of the year, setting a 34-month record on yesterday.

The FBM KLCI has risen more than its Singaporean counterpart

, but has not matched the meteoric rises in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, which have surged over 40 per cent each.

Analysts say part of the reason for the KLCI’s climb is the pre-election enthusiasm, but Ng said there were fundamentals supporting the rise. Malaysia is expected to hold general elections next year although they aren’t due until 2013.

Present conditions were similar to those in the 1992-1994 bull run, Ng said, and the low interest rate environment in developed economies could further fuel the growth spurt here.

Analysts expect further massive inflows of capital into Asia, driven by the second round of U.S. quantitative easing and warn that this may spark inflationary pressures and asset bubbles.

“Areas where we are positioned are the oil and gas sector and banking in Malaysia,” Ng said. “Regionally, we like technology and tourism in Singapore.”

The performance of these sectors will continue to be fueled by demand from big emerging economies such as China, India and Indonesia, and are insulated from a slowdown in developed markets, Ng said.

He said he preferred high-yielding dividend stocks as those companies tended to have better fundamentals.

The inflow of funds has been well-documented by international observers, and has led the World Bank to issue a warning over the possibility of asset bubbles. Ng said bubbles posed a real risk but there have yet to form.

HwangDBS Investment Management has averaged a 15 per cent return per annum on its assets under management since 2000, Ng said.

Related Posts:

• FBM KLCI continue to move up
• Mobius claimed that the bull market has begun

The local stock market started the week on a high note with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index (FBM KLCI) adding 7.4 points to 1,341.38 at 10.30 am.

The benchmark index opened 2.41 points higher at 1,336.39 at 9 am.

Advancers led decliners by 308 to 190 while 233 counters traded unchanged. Turnover stood at 320.1 million shares worth RM345.8mil.

TA Securities said some heavyweights were likely to appreciate further after recent weakness.

It added that the persistent strength in global markets due to increasing signs of the global economic recovery would be sustainable given the higher-than-expected retail sales numbers last week in the US and Japan would spillover to the local stock market.

Meanwhile, HwangDBS said there was a possibility that the local bourse would resume its uptrend ahead.

“This may be the case if the benchmark index cuts above the 1,340 resistance line in a convincing manner, making its way then towards the next resistance of 1,375,” it said.

The research house expects share prices on the local stock exchange to turn up today following Wall Street’s buoyant performance on Friday, which lifted major US equity barometers to close at fresh highs since the bull run started in March last year.

Automotive and related stocks continued to lead gainers. Tan Chong continued its uptrend from last week, rising 45 sen to RM4.98, Warisan gained 30 sen to RM2.85 and APM was 20 sen higher to RM4.54.

PPB Group added 22 sen to RM17.86, Tenaga 19 sen to RM8.70 while MISC saw its shares climb 22 sen to RM8.71.

Talam was the most active with 19.5 million shares done. The counter rose 0.5 sen to 13.5 sen.

Related Posts:

• Is the Bull coming to Bursa Malaysia?
• Mobius claimed that the bull market has begun

The next “bull-market” rally has begun and there are bargains in every emerging market following a record slump in stocks, Templeton Asset Management Ltd.’s Mark Mobius said on March 23.

“You have to be careful not to miss the opportunity,” said Mobius, who helps oversee about US$20 billion of emerging- market assets as executive chairman at San Mateo, California- based Templeton. “With all the negative news, there is a tendency to hold back.”

Emerging markets are in “better shape” than developed economies, Mobius said. The fund is looking for companies that are “cash-rich,” have low debt and higher dividend yields, or those that can invest for future growth yet have cash left to pay shareholders, he said.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has jumped 23% since reaching a four-year low on Oct 27, outperforming the 2.5% drop in the MSCI World Index and 9.5% decline in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Emerging markets made up the 10 best-performing benchmark gauges this year, led by the 26% gain for China’s Shanghai Composite Index.

A company’s participation in derivatives is warning against some stock selections, Mobius, 72, said in a Bloomberg Television interview from Hong Kong.

“No longer are we satisfied with the explanation that ‘oh, it’s just plain vanilla,’” given the huge losses incurred at financial companies, he said.

Citigroup Inc.’s analysts Markus Rosgen and Elaine Chu are among strategists who describe recent Asian stock gains as a temporary “bear-market rally.”

“You are going to see a lot of bouncing off the bottom because there’s a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the market,” Mobius said, “But I have a feeling we’re at the bottom and now we’re building a base for the next bull market.”

Mobius correctly predicted in December that emerging markets will rebound before developed nations. In 1999, he was voted among the “Top Ten Money Managers of the 20th Century” in a survey by the Carson Group, and in 2006 he was included in the “Top 100 Most Powerful and Influential People” by Asiamoney magazine.

Investors who poured $502 million into Asian equity funds over the past two weeks may lose out once the “bear-market rally” falters, Citigroup said today in a note, citing a 30 percent drop after an initial rebound in the 1997 slump. Citigroup’s Rosgen and Chu wrote in a note today they remained “skeptical” the rally is sustainable because valuations have yet to plumb the lows seen in past recessions.

Fidelity Investments, the world’s biggest mutual fund company, is among the skeptics on predictions about the timing of the market cycle.

“No one can call the bottom in the stock market. No one managed to do it. We can’t do it. We don’t have a crystal ball,” Tal Eloya, a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments, said in a briefing in Seoul today. “We have to think long term and invest over a long-term horizon.”

Mobius’s view that stocks will rally is shared by investor Antoine van Agtmael, who is credited with coining the term “emerging markets.”

“Relative to potential sustainable growth and quality, emerging markets today are cheaper than I have seen them at any time since I started to invest” 30 years ago, van Agtmael, who oversees about $8.6 billion as chairman and chief investment officer at Emerging Markets Management LLC, said in a phone interview March 19. “Things have gone too far down.”

Asian stock market valuations outside of Japan fell to 0.9 times book value during the 1975 and 1982 recessions, according to Citigroup. The MSCI Asia excluding Japan Index is now valued at 1.3 times book value.

Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world’s biggest iron-ore producer, and Chinese oil producer PetroChina Co. are among the top holdings of Mobius’s Templeton Emerging Markets Trust.

Mobius continues to favor China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest wireless carrier, as it is the “dominant player in the biggest telecommunications market in the world.”

He also likes Denway Motors Ltd., a Chinese partner of Honda Motor Co., saying that it will survive a move by China to combine the nation’s 14 largest automakers into 10.

“They have a very good position and image,” Mobius said. “A very well-run company and the fact that you have a foreign shareholder and a Chinese shareholder in the same company is beneficial to minorities because minorities will be protected.” – Bloomberg

Related Posts:

• Is the Bull coming to Bursa Malaysia?
• FBM KLCI continue to move up