Thursday, January 16, 2020

TAKAFUL: A Sudden Selldown!

Takaful opened at RM5.50 and dropped to a low of RM5.20 in just 13 minutes. A check on Bursa website and on the internet failed to reveal any new development that might explain the sudden selldown.

In my opinion, this selldown may be due to the upcoming corporate exercise proposed by BIMB, which includes inter alia a distribution of Takaful shares and Bank Islam shares held by BIMB to its shareholders. Unlike the shareholders of BIMB who may be looking forward to receiving Bank Islam and Takaful shares, the shareholders of Takaful can only look forward to having more small shareholders joining their rank. These small shareholders may simply sell off their free Takaful shares received, which may depress the share price going forward. 

Having said that, it should be noted that Takaful's fundamentals are pretty good. See my recent post on its financial performance (here). However its technical outlook has turned negative with 50-day SMA line crossing under the 200-day SMA line (generally referred to as the death cross) and the current low going lower than the previous 2 lows, which together with the lower highs, would fulfill the requirement of a downtrend.

Chart 1: Takaful's daily chart as at Jan 16, 2020-11.20am (Source: Malaysiastock.biz) 

A similar technical set-up was observed in AEONCR in September last year when the lows and the highs were getting lower and the death cross took place. Despite the negative set-up in AEONCR had a big rally in October, which would have been an excellent selling opportunity. After that, the downtrend continued. What caused the change of investors' outlook for AEONCR? It's probably due to poorer financial performance which was highlighted in my recent post on its financial performance (here).

Chart 2; AEONCR's daily chart as at Jan 16, 2020-11.20am (Source: Malaysiastock.biz)

Based on the bearish technical outlook for Takaful, you may want to avoid buying into this good stock in the near term. 

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