REGIONAL markets traded mixed on Friday in the absence of clear leads from Wall Street overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost a marginal 10 points to close at 18,214.42 while the S&P 500 was down 0.15% to 2,110.74. 

Bellwether indices in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea fell, losing between 0.32% to as much as 0.8%. Japan’s Nikkei 225, however, bucked the trend to close 0.06% higher, setting a new 15-year high at 18,797.94. China emerged among the top gainers for the day, with a 0.36% rise in the Shanghai Composite Index. 

Closer to home, the benchmark FBM KLCI reversed early losses to close marginally higher at 1,821.21. Market breadth, however, was negative with decliners outpacing gainers 1.3 to 1. Meanwhile, the ringgit held steady against the greenback at RM3.61. 

In other news, crude oil price was flattish, with Brent crude and WTI crude hovering around $61 and $50 per barrel at the time of writing. 

I did not add or dispose any stock on Friday. 

I continue to hold Hovid (-3.3%), Ecofirst (5.9%), Elsoft (-4.4%), Homeritz (5.2%) and London Biscuits (0.6%). I also retained my stake in Supercomnet (-3.7%), Ingenuity Consolidated (unchanged), MClean (-2.3%), Top Glove (0.8%), and Raya International (-2.4%).

My portfolio now has a total value of RM102,087.20 and is up 2.1% since inception. It has outperformed the FBM KLCI by 5.9%.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 2, 2015.