Investment Talk - Pauline Yong

10/06/2026

My next CE workshop:

Consistent Returns Through Risk Management: A Retail Investor’s Perspective

RM260.00

Date 25 June 2026, Thursday (Full-Day Online CE Workshop)
Time 9.00am – 5.00pm
CE/CPE/CPD 10 CE Points (Confirmed) / 10 CPE Points (TBC) / 8 CPD Points (TBC)
Facilitator Pauline Yong

Overview This workshop empowers participants with practical strategies and analytical tools to manage investment risks effectively and achieve stable, long-term returns. It explores the core principles […]

06/06/2026

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) lost 196 pts or 2.6% for the week at 7383 on Friday. This was the index’s steepest one-day loss in more than a year.

The early part of the week actually looked fine with the S&P 500 finished above 7,600 for the first time on Monday June 2, and the AI euphoria carried through Tuesday. Then Broadcom reported Wednesday night and everything changed. The stock didn't crash on bad numbers exactly, its miss was just $80 million on $22 billion of revenue, which for most companies would be a rounding error. But in a market priced for relentless upward AI revisions, "unchanged" guidance reads as a miss. Broadcom fell 12.5% on Thursday, dragging Intel, AMD, Micron, Marvell, and Nvidia down with it. Friday compounded the damage badly.

May’s U.S. nonfarm payroll data came out at 172,000 new jobs. This figure was more than twice the market’s average forecast of 88,000 positions. The national unemployment rate stayed flat at 4.3 percent. Following the jobs report, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields jumped above 4.5 percent. Thirty-year Treasury yields climbed past the 5 percent threshold. Market odds for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike shifted dramatically. Traders moved from a 60 percent chance of a hike to pricing in a near-certain increase.

The silver lining? The selloff looks more like rotation than breakdown. The Dow actually hit a record high mid-week, and cash recycled out of chips into consumer staples, financials, healthcare, and small caps, suggesting institutional money is repositioning rather than fleeing equities market.

For next week, the SPX support is seen at 7250, while the resistance is 7475. 📊🌍📈🚀

06/06/2026

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) gained 10 pts or 0.6% for the week, closing at 1,693 on Friday. The index is short term bearish at below the 20 MA line but above the 200 day MA line. The recovery was driven almost entirely by bargain hunting rather than any fundamental change in sentiment.

The bigger picture remains challenging. KLCI futures contracts fell sharply on a Friday-to-Friday basis the prior week with the June 2026 contract easing 36.5 points to 1,680, along with the September contract at 1,662. This signals that smart money is still cautiously positioned.

The highlight for the week is on the local political front. Johor dissolved its state assembly on June 1, followed swiftly by Negeri Sembilan, and both states must hold elections within 60 days which is by early August 2026. Negeri Sembilan's timing was partly forced, as the assembly would have auto-dissolved by June 10. Political tension had been brewing there after all 14 BN assemblymen briefly withdrew support over a royal dispute, and PH has since decided to contest all 36 seats independently, ending its alliance with BN. In Johor, BN is also contesting the elections independently, making both elections an early test of the unity government.

Next week, the KLCI is expected to remain volatile with support at 1670, resistance 1710. 📉🇲🇾

06/06/2026

The Straits Times Index (STI) lost around 24 pts or 0.5% for the week, closing at 5,049. The index remained short term bullish at above both the 20day and the 200 day MA lines. The index held up well through mid-week, with the STI firmly above the 5,000 level, supported by DBS hitting fresh all-time highs on strong wealth management momentum with close to S$10 billion in net new money inflows in Q1 2026. OCBC remained the best-performing Singapore bank in 2026, up approximately 18% year-to-date, with wealth management now contributing nearly 39% of group income.

However, Thursday and Friday brought the external shock. The Broadcom-triggered chip rout on Wall Street rippled into Asia hard, with the STI slipping 0.40% on Friday while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.45%, Japan's Nikkei lost 1.31%, and South Korea's KOSPI tumbled 5.54%. Hence, Singapore's far smaller decline proves its resilience.

Next week, the STI is expected to consolidate in a sideways range, with support at 4,950–5,100. 📊🇸🇬 .

30/05/2026

How to Read and Interpret Bursa Malaysia Sustainability Reports

Date: 9 Jun 2026 (Tue)
Time: 10:00am - 11:30am

In this 1.5-hr webinar, you'll learn:
✅ Understand the structure of Bursa’s Sustainability Report
✅ What the “Common Sustainability Matters and Indicators” and what they mean for investors
✅ How to evaluate Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) data quality
✅ Example walk-through of a real sustainability report
✅ Understand the fundamentals of equities trading
✅ Understand the functionality of ETS as a tool to practice trading in a simulated environment

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1017706203771/WN_H1fP7yVJR66JzqNDSkReog

30/05/2026

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) gained 107 pts or 1.4% for the week at 7580 on Friday. The index hit all time high again and it is the 9th consecutive weekly gain. For the month of May, it gained 371pts or 5.15%. Goldman Sachs raised its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 8,000, citing resilient earnings momentum and AI growth story.

The week belonged to tech and AI names. Dell Technologies surged nearly 33%, its best single day on record after reporting a first-quarter beat and raising full-year guidance, while Micron and Qualcomm added 5% and 3% respectively. Snowflake soared 36% after lifting its annual product revenue forecast and announcing a US$6 billion five-year AI infrastructure deal with Amazon Web Services, dragging peers Datadog and MongoDB higher with it. Microsoft gained 3.5% on reports of an upcoming coding model release, and Marvell Technology rose 3% after UBS raised its price target to US$230.

On the inflation front, April PCE came in at 3.8% year-on-year which is 3-year high signalling rate cut is not in the horizon. Next week, the SPX is expected to consolidate near record highs with key events such as: the US nonfarm payrolls report and corporate earnings. Broadcom, Palo Alto Networks, Dollar General, and CrowdStrike are among the notable earnings reporters next week.

The SPX support is seen at 7450, while the resistance is 7650. 📊🌍📈🚀

30/05/2026

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) declined 1.72% for the week, closing at 1,683.07 on Friday. It is the fourth straight session of losses and ended the month 2.26% lower. That makes it a third consecutive weekly decline, with the index firmly below the 1,700 psychological level and now approaching oversold territory on the charts. The selldown was broad-based. Heavyweight names bore the brunt with Maybank fell 44 sen to RM10.50, CIMB dropped 19 sen to RM7.49, and Public Bank slipped, while Tenaga Nasional and IHH Healthcare managed marginal gains. On a more positive note, tech and semiconductor counters provided some cushion, with Malaysian Pacific Industries, ViTrox, and MI Technovation attracting bargain hunters on select sessions. The week was shortened by the Aidiladha public holiday on Wednesday, which also dampened overall trading momentum.

Foreign funds remained net sellers throughout the week, a trend that has persisted since mid-May. On the brighter side, Malaysia's fundamentals haven't deteriorated. The economy's net oil exporter status, resilient trade linkages, and leverage to the global tech and AI upcycle remain intact as medium-term anchors. Turnover stayed robust at RM10.47 billion on Friday, suggesting there's still active participation even as the index softens.

Next week, the KLCI is expected to be choppy with support at 1675, resistance 1700. 📉🇲🇾

30/05/2026

The Straits Times Index (STI) gained around 80 pts or 1.6% for the week, closing at 5,068, marking a new all-time high, with the index up 28% year-on-year. The advance was driven largely by the banking trio and select industrials. DBS, OCBC, and UOB continued to anchor the index following solid Q1 2026 earnings, with OCBC up 4.6% over the past fortnight as the standout performer among the banks. ST Engineering was the week's biggest individual mover, surging 8.68% to S$11.27, riding the wave of elevated defence spending sentiment tied to the Iran conflict. SATS also had a good week, reporting a 17% earnings increase, reinforcing the recovery narrative in Singapore's aviation and gateway services sector.

On the macro front, the key positive surprise was inflation. Singapore's core inflation came in at 1.4% in April, down from 1.7% in March and well below the 1.8% consensus forecast, driven by lower services inflation and softer retail price pressures. That's a welcome development, particularly as MAS had flagged in April that it would slightly increase the rate of SGD NEER appreciation in response to energy-driven imported cost pressures. With core CPI now cooling faster than expected, the MAS tightening narrative has softened somewhat.

Next week, the STI is expected to move in a sideways to mildly positive direction with support seen at 4900, resistance at 5150. 📊🇸🇬 .

23/05/2026

The S&P 500 Index (SPX) gained 65 pts or 0.8% for the week at 7473 on Friday. The index has retraced from the overbought 70% RSI region. The highlight of this week is the posting a record revenue of NVIDIA’s $81.6 billion (up 85% year-on-year). The chip giant also announced an additional $80 billion share buyback program and aggressively raised its quarterly dividend from 1 cent to 25 cents. However, reflecting the market's sky-high expectations, the stock saw a mild "sell-the-news" reaction, slipping 1.86% on Friday and acting as a minor late-week drag on the index despite the stellar fundamentals.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, prompting warnings from the IEA that global oil inventories are rapidly draining toward a critical threshold of 7.6 billion barrels. However, equities found comfort in the absence of fresh military escalations between the U.S. and Iran, with traders choosing to focus on high-stakes, ongoing diplomatic negotiations aimed at securing a permanent maritime solution.

Next week, Wall Street faces a holiday-shortened schedule with U.S. markets closed on Monday for Memorial Day. The primary focal point will remain the progress of the U.S.-Iran peace talks, the SPX support is seen at 7350, while the resistance is 7550. 📊🌍📈🚀

23/05/2026

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) lost 28 pts or 1.6% at 1,712 for the week. The index has crossed below the 20 day but remained above the 200 day MA line. It has recorded its second consecutive weekly decline. Investor sentiment was mixed: bargain hunting emerged in blue-chip counters such as Petronas Chemicals, Telekom Malaysia, and selected banking stocks, while concerns over rising inflation and softer global risk appetite capped gains. Malaysia’s economic backdrop remained relatively resilient, supported by record-high exports and imports in April as well as the country’s largest trade surplus in nearly three years.

Another key factor weighing on sentiment this week was renewed speculation of a possible “flash” or early General Election (GE16). The rumours intensified after former ministers Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi announced their resignation from PKR and their plan to join another political party, fuelling talk of political realignment within the unity government. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later acknowledged that an early election could be considered if tensions within the coalition continue, although no official decision has been made.
Next week, the KLCI is expected to move cautiously with support at 1695, resistance 1730. 📉🇲🇾