THE local bourse ended little changed in heavy trading on Tuesday, snapping seven days of gains. Some 1.63 billion shares valued at RM1.61 billion changed hands, which may be attributed to year-end window dressing activities.

The FBM KLCI index settled 0.09% lower to close at 1,766.83. Market breadth was negative with losers outweighing gainers by a 1.1 to one ratio.

Meanwhile, regional bourses mostly closed in the red as oil prices tumbled to new five-year lows on speculation of record-high US crude inventories. Brent crude and WTI crude dipped 2.6% and 2.0% to $57.88 and $53.61 per barrel respectively.

There was also little impetus from Wall Street which closed flat on Monday. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.07% to 3,165.81 on profit-taking activities after hitting a four-year high.

The Euro fell to a 29-month low against the greenback after Athens called for a snap election which may threaten its euro membership if the anti-bailout party wins.

Palm oil gained for the ninth consecutive trading day while heavy rains are forecasted for at least another week in Malaysia, which may disrupt palm oil production and harvesting.

My portfolio started on 8 July 2014 with a capital of RM100,000. Since then, it has outperformed the FBM KLCI by 7.5%, registering an annualized return of 1.8%.

Willowglen, the only stock held in the portfolio, increased by 1.4% to 72 sen.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 31, 2014.