scholarly journals A note on the relationship between COVID-19 and stock market return: evidence from South Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Arafat Rahman ◽  
Md Mohsan Khudri ◽  
Muhammad Kamran ◽  
Pakeezah Butt

Purpose The transformation of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from a regional health crisis in a Chinese city to a global pandemic has caused severe damage not only to the natural and economic lives of human beings but also to the financial markets. The rapidly pervading and daunting consequences of COVID-19 spread have plummeted the stock markets to their lowest levels in many decades especially in South Asia. This concern motivates us to investigate the stock markets’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This study aims to investigate the causal impact of the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on stock market returns using panel data of the countries stated above. Design/methodology/approach This study collects and analyzes the daily data on COVID-19 spread and stock market return over the period May 28, 2020 to October 01, 2020. Using Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel Granger non-causality test, the empirical results demonstrate that the COVID-19 spread measured through its daily confirmed cases in a country significantly induces stock market return. This paper cross-validates the results using the pairwise Granger causality test. Findings The empirical results suggest unidirectional causality from COVID-19 to stock market returns, indicating that the spread of COVID-19 has a dominant short-term influence on the stock movements. To the best of the knowledge, this study provides the first empirical insights into the impact of COVID-19 on the stock markets of selected South Asian countries taking the cross-sectional dependence into account. The results are also in line with the findings of other existing literature on COVID-19. Moreover, the results are robust across the two tests used in this study. Originality/value The findings are equally insightful to the fund managers and investors in South Asian countries. Taking into account the possible impact of COVID-19 on stock markets’ returns, investors can design their optimal portfolios more effectively. This study has another important implication in the sense that the impact of COVID-19 on the stock markets of South Asian countries may have spillover effects on other developing or even developed countries.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
Amr Arafa ◽  
Nader Alber

This paper attempts to investigate the impact of Coronavirus spread on the stock markets of MENA region. Coronavirus has been measured by cumulative total cases, cumulative total deaths, new cases and new deaths, while stock market return is measured by Δ in the stock market index. This has been applied on stock markets of 7 countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Tunisia), on daily basis during the period from March 1, 2020, to July 24, 2020. Results indicate that stock market returns in the MENA countries tend to be negatively affected Coronavirus cumulative deaths and Coronavirus new deaths. A robustness check has been conducted for each country during the whole period, showing significant effect of Coronavirus cumulative cases in Jordan and Tunisia and significant effect of Coronavirus cumulative deaths in Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia, without any evidence about the effects of Coronavirus new cases and Coronavirus new cases. After splitting the research period into 4 sub-periods (March, April, May, June- July 24), results support the impact of “cumulative Coronavirus cases” on stock market return in Jordan during May and in Morocco during April. Besides, the impact of “cumulative Coronavirus deaths” has been supported in in Morocco during April, and in Tunisia during March and June-July. Moreover, “new Coronavirus cases” seems to have a significant impact in Jordan during May and in Tunisia during March. Also, “new Coronavirus deaths” shows a significant effect in Morocco during May.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Tomader Elhassan

This study examined the asymmetric impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock market return volatility. The data included daily closing prices of the GCC stock market from the day of the acknowledgment of the first case of COVID-19 in each country to March 6, 2021. In addition, the study employed generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) family models. According to the Akaike information criterion, GARCH and exponential GARCH (EGARCH) were the most accurate models. The findings of the GARCH model indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the GCC stock markets. The EGARCH model also confirmed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the GCC stock markets, confirming that the COVID-19 negatively affected GCC stock market returns. The value of the persistence of this volatility continued over a long period. This study has potential implications for investors and policymakers in diversifying investment portfolios and adopting strategies to maintain investor confidence during such crises. Moreover, mechanisms must be developed for reducing risks in financial markets in times of crisis, and central banks should take financial measures to mitigate risks to capital markets. AcknowledgmentsThis achievement was made with the aid of my family’s support, thank you all.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Slah Bahloul ◽  
Nawel Ben Amor

PurposeThis paper investigates the relative importance of local macroeconomic and global factors in the explanation of twelve MENA (Middle East and North Africa) stock market returns across the different quantiles in order to determine their degree of international financial integration.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use both ordinary least squares and quantile regressions from January 2007 to January 2018. Quantile regression permits to know how the effects of explanatory variables vary across the different states of the market.FindingsThe results of this paper indicate that the impact of local macroeconomic and global factors differs across the quantiles and markets. Generally, there are wide ranges in degree of international integration and most of MENA stock markets appear to be weakly integrated. This reveals that the portfolio diversification within the stock markets in this region is still beneficial.Originality/valueThis paper is original for two reasons. First, it emphasizes, over a fairly long period, the impact of a large number of macroeconomic and global variables on the MENA stock market returns. Second, it examines if the relative effects of these factors on MENA stock returns vary or not across the market states and MENA countries.


Author(s):  
Peter Ifeanyichukwu Ali ◽  
Samuel M. Nzotta ◽  
A. B. C. Akujuobi ◽  
Chilaka E. Nwaimo

The main purpose of this paper was to investigate the impact of macroeconomic variables on stock market return volatility in Sub-Sahara markets. The study concentrated on three stock markets including Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa using GARCH-X (1,1) model on monthly data from January 2000 to December 2017. Preliminary analyses from descriptive statistics show that show mean monthly returns are positive for all the stock markets. Skewness coefficients show that the stock returns and interest rates distribution of all Sub-Sahara Africa stock markets are negatively skewed but inflation rate is positively skewed for Nigeria and South Africa, and flat for Ghana. Excess kurtoses are positive for all the stock markets and macroeconomic indicators, and Jarque-Bera statistics indicate the stock markets’ series and macroeconomic indicators are not normally distributed. The Unit roots tests results indicate that all the stock markets and macroeconomic indicators are first difference stationary. The results of the GARCH-X (1,1) model show that macroeconomic variables do not significantly impact stock market returns volatility in Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa at the 5% significance Level. We therefore recommend that stock market regulators, market participants and investors should concentrate more efforts on other macroeconomic variables aside interest rate and inflation rate, in estimating stock market return volatility in Sub-Sahara Africa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Nader Alber ◽  
Amr Saleh

This paper attempts to investigate the effects of 2020 Covid-19 world-wide spread on stock markets of GCC countries. Coronavirus spread has been measured by cumulative cases, new cases, cumulative deaths and new deaths. Coronavirus spread has been measured by numbers per million of population, while stock market return is measured by Δ in stock market index. Papers conducted in this topic tend to analyze Coronavirus spread in the highly infected countries and focus on the developed stock markets. Countries with low level of infection that have emerging financial markets seem to be less attractive to scholars concerning with Coronavirus spread on stock markets. This is why we try to investigate the GCC stock markets reaction to Covid-19 spread.   Findings show that there are significant differences among stock market indices during the research period. Besides, stock market returns seem to be sensitive to Coronavirus new deaths. Moreover, this has been confirmed for March without any evidence about these effects during April and May 2020.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Alqahtani ◽  
Amine Lahiani ◽  
Ali Salem

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the transmission of international oil prices to the stock market indices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the weekly period from April 07, 2004, to August 15, 2018. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) unit root test to check the order of integration of data series. Afterward, the authors use the ordinary least square method to determine the spillover of international oil prices to the stock markets of GCC countries while accounting for the time-varying volatility of oil and stock market returns through the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity. Then, the Johansen (1991) cointegration test is used to determine the long-run equilibrium relationship. Finally, the Granger (1969) causality test is used to determine the short-run causal effects between oil and the stock markets returns of GCC countries. Findings The findings indicate that the stock markets of GCC countries are efficient and respond significantly to international oil prices and evidence of high volatility associated with oil returns. Originality/value Investors and portfolio managers should consider the association between international oil prices and GCC stock returns when allocating their funds for diversification strategy. Moreover, policymakers should better understand the behavior of local stock markets.


2014 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 787-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Jane Lenard ◽  
Bing Yu ◽  
E. Anne York ◽  
Shengxiong Wu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study gender diversity on the board of directors and the relation to risk management and corporate performance as measured by the variability of stock market return. Design/methodology/approach – The sample consists of companies from the RiskMetrics database from 2007 to 2011. This database contains information on corporate board of directors. Financial variables were collected from the Compustat database and CRSP database for the years 2005-2011. The authors then measure the effect of gender diversity on corporate performance in terms of firm risk, using the model by Cheng (2008) which measures the variability of stock market return. Findings – The study shows that more gender diversity on the board of directors impacts firm risk by contributing to lower variability of stock market return. The higher the percentage of female directors on the board, the lower the variability of corporate performance. Originality/value – The research design and findings assist in providing additional evidence about the role of women in corporate leadership positions and the association with corporate performance. The approach combines Cheng's (2008) model of stock market variability with the impact of gender diversity on the board of directors.


Author(s):  
Izunobi Anthony Okechukwu ◽  
Nzotta Samuel Mbadike ◽  
Ugwuanyim Geoffrey ◽  
Benedict Anayochukwu Ozurumba

This study employed GARCH (1.1) techniques to evaluate the existence of high stock market returns volatility, and the impact of the exchange rate, interest rate and inflation on stock market returns in Nigeria, using monthly series data from 1995 – 2014. Excessive volatility hinders the stock market from playing its role of Mobilizing, financial resources from surplus units to deficit units and may cause a financial crisis. The research finding shows that interest rate has a negative relationship with stock market returns, while the inflation rate and exchange rate have a positive relationship with stock market returns. The conclusion therefore is, there is high and persistent volatility in the Nigerian stock market returns. Exchange rate, interest rate, and inflation significantly impact stock market return volatility in Nigeria. The study recommends that regulatory authorities should take proactive steps to minimize stock market return in order to restore confidence in the market.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghulam Abbas ◽  
David G. McMillan ◽  
Shouyang Wang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relation between stock market volatility and macroeconomic fundamentals for G-7 countries using monthly data over the period from July 1985 to June 2015. Design/methodology/approach The empirical methodology is based on two steps: in the first step, the authors obtain the conditional volatilities of stock market returns and macroeconomic variables through the GARCH family of models. The authors also incorporate the impact of early 2000s dotcom and the global financial crises. In the second step, the authors estimate multivariate vector autoregressive model to analyze the dynamic relation between stock markets return and macroeconomic variables. Findings The overall results for G-7 countries indicate a weak volatility transmission from macroeconomic factors to stock market volatility at individual level but the collective impact of volatility transmission is highly significant. Although, the results of block exogeneity indicate a bidirectional causality except UK, but the causal linkage is quite weak from stock market to macroeconomic variables. Moreover, the local financial variables excluding interest rate are closely integrated, and the volatility of industrial production growth and oil price are identified as the most significant macroeconomic factors that could possibly influence the directions of stock markets. Originality/value This research establishes the nature of the links between stock market and macroeconomic volatility. Research to date has been unable to satisfactorily establish the empirical nature of such links. The authors believe this paper begins to do this.


2021 ◽  
Vol VI (II) ◽  
pp. 238-253
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ishtiaq ◽  
Aisha Imtiaz ◽  
Hina Mushtaq

The crisis of COVID-19 comes with a calamitous economic stance. The South Asian countries experience their nastiest economic performance in the last four decenniums, and a moiety of the countries are falling into recession. This paper checks the impact of the first,second and third waves of COVID-19 outbreak on the stock market indices of all the South Asian countries, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, SriLanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan. The study has utilized the Event Study Methodology and results exhibit that COVID-19 decreases the mean returns of all the stock market indices and increases their volatility,which designates that Corona does influence all the stock markets of South Asia in decrementing their returns and incrementing volatility. Overall, the negative effect of the first wave of COVID-19 is not paramount across all the indices except the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), albeit its second wave did not affect any of the stock market indices significantly. In contrast,the third wave affects the stock markets indices of Pakistan (PSX) and Afghanistan (AFX).


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