KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economy and the stock market are likely to remain volatile in the early part of the year before picking up momentum, said astrologers and feng shui practitioners.

“In general, the first half of the year [will] not show any major growth in the global and local economy, although the local economy will make some progress in the second quarter,” Vedic astrologer G Suresh told The Edge Financial Daily.

Suresh doesn’t see the stock market doing well in the first quarter of 2015. He said except for the months of January, May, July and December, progressive growth can be expected throughout the year.

Suresh considers land-related industries such as residential property, metals, hospitality and education as favourable.

Good Feng Shui Geomantic Research founder and chief researcher Kenny Hoo expects the stock and real estate markets to remain soft until the third quarter of this year.

“[However,] even in situations when the trend is weakening, the ability to grasp opportunities to discover reasonably priced and high-quality stocks and real estate properties will result in worthwhile returns when the economy recovers and the markets rally from the third quarter,” he said.

Hoo said earth-, metal- and fire-related industries such as commodities, property, construction, as well as banking and finance will face headwinds this year, with much uncertainty for those in the energy-related sector.  

“In the Year of the Wooden Sheep (2015), the existence of the strong wood element clashes with the earth element and exhausts the water element.

“Therefore, businesses [concerning] earth- and water-related industries such as [those involving] land, property, construction, mining, travel, tourism, hotels, logistics, [beverages], water supply and fisheries will face challenges,” he added.

Hoo also sees more company takeovers, joint-ventures (JVs) and acquisitions occuring this year as there will be companies that are unable to sustain themselves in the challenging economic situation.

Feng shui expert Jane Hor (pic) said 2015 will generally be unfavourable for the world economy.

“Industry-wise, wood-related industries such as building materials, furniture and garments will face a great deal of competition. Only the strong ones will stay in the game,” she told The Edge Financial Daily.

Hor said the performance of earth-related industries is critical this year.

“Agriculture, property and petrol are important earth elements. The year 2015 will not be too favourable for the property market, but it will get better after September,” she said, adding that JVs and partnerships can aid success.

Hor believes that water-related industries such as logistics, tourism and external trade will be “rather weak” in spite of efforts to boost the industries, while there will not be much development in fire-related trading.

According to feng shui expert Master Soon, 2015 has strong elements of wood and fire.

“Education and medical industries like hospitals and pharmacies will have excellent prospects. The publication industry will [also] be favourable this year,” he said, adding that the banking and finance industry, however, may underperform.

Soon noted that the property industry will face weaker demand, while the telecommunications industry will show positive improvement.

“Meanwhile, the tourism, hotel and airline sectors do not show promise in 2015, along with the oil and gas industry,” he added.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 16, 2015.