Market efficiency and technical analysis during different market phases: further evidence from Malaysia
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/imfi.14(2-2).2017.07
-
Article InfoVolume 14 2017, Issue #2 (cont. 2), pp. 359-366
- Cited by
- 1361 Views
-
258 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
The profitability of simple technical trading rules remains an interesting topic and has been thoroughly explored in the literature. In this paper, the authors investigate the profitability of two popular moving average (MA) rules in the Bursa Malaysia before, during and after the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008-2009. Using variable length MA (VMA) and fixed length MA (FMA) technical rules, the authors explore if there were differences in their performance during the different market phases, and if swing traders can gain by trading on the basis of these strategies. When practical trading constraints are considered, the authors find that MA rules performed differently during the three market phases. Over time, the forecasting powers of these rules have diluted and they have performed poorly in the most recent subsample. The findings suggest that the Malaysian stock market is gradually becoming more efficient. This outcome can be attributed to the technological advancements and widespread use of exchange traded funds.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)G11, G14, G17
-
References26
-
Tables3
-
Figures0
-
- Table 1. VMA and FMA trading performance before the global financial crisis (2005–2007)
- Table 2. VMA and FMA trading performance during the global financial crisis (2008–2009)
- Table 3. VMA and FMA trading performance after the global financial crisis (2010–2013)
-
- Aby, C. D., Briscoe, N. R., Elliott, R. S., & Bacadayan, A. (2001). Value stocks: a look at benchmark fundamentals and company priorities. Journal of Deferred Compensation, 7(1), 20-31.
- Acikalin, S., Aktaş, R., & Unal, S. (2008). Relationships between stock markets and macroeconomic variables: an empirical analysis of the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 5(1), 8-16.
- Bessembinder, H., & Chan, K. (1995). The profitability of technical trading rules in the Asian stock markets. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 3(2-3), 257-284.
- Boboc, I. A., & Dinică, M. C. (2013). An algorithm for testing the efficient market hypothesis. PLOS ONE, 8(10), e78177.
- Brock, W., Lakonishok, J., & LeBaron, B. (1992). Simple technical trading rules and the stochastic properties of stock returns. Journal of Finance, 47(5), 1731-1764.
- Chong, T. T. L., Ng, W. K., & Liew, V. K. S. (2014). Revisiting the performance of MACD and RSI oscillators. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 7(1), 1-12.
- Elder, A. (1993). Trading for a living: psychology, trading tactics, money management. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
- Fama, E. F. (1970). Efficient capital markets: a review of theory and empirical work. Journal of Finance, 25(2), 383-417.
- Fang, Y., & Xu, D. (2003). The predictability of asset returns: an approach combining technical analysis and time series forecasts. International Journal of Forecasting, 1, 369-385.
- Gunasekarage, A., & Power, D. M. (2001). The profitability of moving average trading rules in South Asian stock markets. Emerging Markets Review, 2(1), 17-33.
- Hsu, P. H., Hsu, Y. C., & Kuan, C. M. (2010). Testing the predictive ability of technical analysis using a new stepwise test without data snooping bias. Journal of Empirical Finance, 17, 471-484.
- Isa, M. M., & Lim, C. F. (1995). Profile of individual investors in the Kelang Valley area. Capital Markets Review, 3(1), 1-15.
- Lai, M. M., & Lau, S. H. (2006). The profitability of the simple moving averages and trading range breakout in the Asian stock markets. Journal of Asian Economics, 17(1), 144-170.
- Lai, M. M., Balachandher, K. G., & Nor, F. M. (2007). An examination of the random walk model and technical trading rules in the Malaysian stock market. Malaysian Accounting Review, 6(2), 99-121.
- Loh, E. Y. L. (2005). A comparative study of technical trading rules, time–series trading rules and combined technical and time–series trading strategies in the Australian Stock Exchange (Doctoral thesis, The University of Western Australia).
- Marshall, B. R., & Cahan, R. H. (2005). Is technical analysis profitable on a stock market which has characteristics that suggest it may be inefficient? Research in International Business and Finance, 19(3), 384-398.
- Metghalchi, M., Marcucci, J., & Chang, Y. H. (2012). Are moving average trading rules profitable? Evidence from the European stock markets. Applied Economics, 44(12), 1539-1559.
- Nor, S. M., & Wickremasinghe, G. (2014). The profitability of MACD and RSI trading rules in the Australian stock market. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 11(4), 194-199.
- Nor, S. M., & Islam, S. M. N. (2016). Beating the market: can evolutionary based portfolio optimisation outperform the Talmudic diversification strategy? International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance, 9(1), 90-99.
- Shahzad, S. J. H., Nor, S. M., Hammoudeh, S., & Shahbaz, M. (2017a). Directional and bidirectional causality between U.S. industry credit and stock markets and their determinants. International Review of Economics and Finance, 47, 46-61.
- Shahzad, S. J. H., Nor, S. M., Mensi, W., & Kumar R. R. (2017b). Examining the efficiency and interdependence of US credit and stock markets through MF-DFA and MF-DXA approaches. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 471, 351-363.
- Sobreiro, V. A., Cruz Cacique da Costa, T. R., Farias Nazário, R. T., Lima e Silva, J., Moreira, E. A., Filho, M. C. L., Kimura, H., & Arismendi Zambrano, J. C. (2016). The profitability of moving average trading rules in BRICS and emerging stock markets. The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, 38, 86-101.
- Taylor, M. P., & Allen, H. (1992). The use of technical analysis in the foreign exchange market. Journal of International Money and Finance, 11(3), 304-314.
- Urquhart, A., & McGroarty, F. (2016). Are stock markets really efficient? Evidence of the adaptive market hypothesis. International Review of Financial Analysis, 47, 39-49.
- Vanstone, B., & Finnie, G. (2009). An empirical methodology for developing stock market trading systems using artificial neural networks. Expert Systems with Applications, 36(3), 6668- 6680.
- Wong, W. K., Manzur, M., & Chew, B. K. (2003). How rewarding is technical analysis? Evidence from Singapore stock market. Applied Financial Economics, 13(7), 543- 551.