Monday, January 28, 2008

Investors Confident Of Market Improving, ING Survey Shows

Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- Investors are optimistic that Bursa Malaysia will gain momentum and improve further in the next three month despite the current turbulence affecting regional and global markets, according to a survey by global financial institution ING.

About 49 percent or half of the respondents in the ING Investor Sentiment Index survey believed that the local stock market will get better in the next three months.

"Government policies, such as the continued roll-out of economic regions, are viewed favourably by 54 percent of Malaysian investors," said ING Funds Bhd's chief executive officer Steve Ong.

In terms of asset allocation, more Malaysians were shifting investments to properties and gold, he said in a statement today.

Ong said the survey showed that Syariah-compliant investment products were beginning to pick up, as 69 percent of Malaysian investors said they would consider investing in such products.

"When choosing a Syariah-compliant investment product, investors said that fund performance is more important than the fund manager who managed it," he said.

"Investors mostly prefer to invest in funds with consistent but average performance and they will also continue to be cautious in the next few months but the overall sentiment is optimistic," he added.

Ong said equities will continue to be an important asset class this year although this must be exercised with care.

"While some counters might be affected by a recession in the United States, there are still opportunities for investors to participate in the Asia-Pacific equity markets, and China in particular," he said.

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