SHARES on the local bourse were mostly in the red on Wednesday, despite Wall Street’s climb to new record highs on Tuesday.

Regional markets were also mostly mixed on Wednesday, with markets in China, Hong Kong and Japan posting gains while the rest were mostly lower.

News that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will delay a planned sales tax hike to bolster Japan’s economy sent the Nikkei soaring. However, Europe stocks fell as investors watched economic reports to gauge the pace of economic recovery.

On the local front, falling oil prices continued to be a growing concern as Brent crude oil prices slipped to four year lows. Declining oil prices will have an adverse impact on government revenues and the ability to narrow the budget deficit.

The FBM KLCI index declined 0.49% to close at 1,816.20.

My portfolio value fell as well, with total returns decreasing by 1.04% to RM 105,115.

The portfolio started on 8 July 2014 with a capital of RM100,000. Since then, it has outperformed the FBM KLCI by 9.2%, and has registered an annualised return of 14.7%.

Total profits currently stand at RM 5,115.

In my portfolio, only KSL gained yesterday, rising by 1.1% to close at RM 4.54. The losing stocks were led by Teo Seng Capital (-4.5%) and HIL Industries (-3.2%).

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 13, 2014.