Investors take walk on wild side
Zodiac signs in the Year of the Tiger suggest that investors hoping for a smoother ride in the markets will have to wait a bit longer, according to CLSA's tongue-in-cheek fung shui index released yesterday.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index may move like a tiger this year, hopping back and forth before burrowing down in the spring for a powerful leap in the second half, said Vonnie Chan, a senior institutional sales manager at CLSA.
'We are going to have a powerful, energetic and optimistic year ahead,' Chan said. 'But bear in mind that tigers are pretty bumpy and unpredictable.'
Financial markets have been volatile recently, after a long stretch of uninterrupted advances in the previous year. Hong Kong investors may already be anticipating a change in the stars as the Year of the Ox ends and Chinese calendars flip the page to the new year.
The Year of the Tiger is set to match up with the element of metal, which should bode well for investments in related industries. Technology, power and property may also benefit because they have strong connections to the field. Conversely, water-related sectors like shipping and logistics could face choppy waters this year, Chan said.
The stars may be aligned in the new year for people born in the Years of the Dragon and Horse. Individuals who are aligned with the Years of the Tiger, Snake or Monkey could be in for tough times, however.
'They need to pay more attention because they are going to offend the Heavenly God in different ways this year,' Chan said. 'They may need to go to the temple later.'
CLSA kicked off its fung shui index in 1992 as a Lunar New Year card to its clients. It was relaunched last year after being discontinued in 2005. The current instalment was created after consultations with professional fung shui masters.
Mark To, the head of research at brokerage Wing Fung Financial Group, knows investors who have applied fung shui principles to the market but he said it was difficult to quantify what effect that would have had on the outcome of their investments.
'A lot of people are anticipating this year will be difficult [anyway] because of the possibility of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates and central banks withdrawing stimulus measures,' To said.
'Fung shui is just another way of packaging the expectations.'
