• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.33-60
• /
• 2023

This paper analyzes the entire distribution of stock market returns/volatility in five emerging markets (ASEAN5) and figures out the conditional distribution of the CHI_EPU index. The aim is to examine the impact of CHI_EPU on the stock returns/volatility density of ASEAN5 markets. It also examined whether changes in CHI_EPU explain returns at higher or lower points (abnormal returns). This paper models the behaviour of stock returns from March 2011 to June 2018 using a non-parametric conditional density estimation approach. The results indicate that CHI_EPU diminishes stock returns and augments volatility in ASEAN5 markets, except for Malaysia, where it affects stock returns positively. The possible reason for this positive impact is that EPU is not the leading factor reducing Malaysian stock returns; but, other forces, such as dependency on other countries' stock markets and global factors, may have a positive impact on stock returns (Bachmann and Bayer, 2013). Thus, the risk of simultaneous investment in Chinese and ASEAN5 stock markets, except Malaysia, is high. Further, the degree of this influence intensifies at extreme high/low intervals (positive/negative tails). The findings of this study have significant implications for investors, policymakers, market agents, and analysts of ASEAN5.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.7
• /
• pp.11-19
• /
• 2021

The study aims to investigate the impact of seasonality in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries' share market during the month of Ramadan. It helps in finding the opportunities for stock market investors to earn abnormal (returns) gain by investing during Ramadan in GCC stock markets. This study uses stock returns data of GCC countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Dubai, and UAE) from January 2004 to November 2019. Stock prices indexes of GCC stock markets have been obtained from Datastream. The ARCH-GARCH model is used to study the impact of the Ramadan month on the return and volatility of the stock market in GCC countries. The results showed that the Ramadan month has a significant impact on share market prices in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, Ramadan has an insignificant impact on share market prices in Bahrain and Oman. The study found no evidence of serial correlational between residuals in Kuwait; meaning that stock return was not dependent on the prior stock returns in Kuwait, therefore, we cannot go for forecasting. The ARCH-LM test statistic for Qatar does not fulfill the requirement of a good regression model; therefore, we cannot go for forecasting or testing the hypothesis of Qatar.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.9 no.9
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2022

This paper studies market efficiency from a weak form aspect using opening and closing prices of the Shanghai stock exchange composite index (SSEC) and Shenzhen stock exchange composite index (SZSEC) under the expected return theory. Classical methods (autocorrelation and runs test) are used to examine the features of stock returns, and little evidence against mutual independence of returns is found. We predict daily returns of SSEC and SZSEC with AR(p) and VAR(p) models (in this paper, p = 5 is taken as a one-week lag) and perform a virtual experiment on two indexes based on the predicted value of daily returns from AR(p) or VAR(p) model. From the results of AR(p) and VAR(p) for two indexes, we attempt to find out how the market efficiency level changes when the information from the other market is under consideration as we check the market efficiency level in one market. We find that SSEC in 2014-2016 and SZSEC in 2015-2016 are inefficient from the result of autocorrelation, that SSEC in 2016 and SZSEC in 2013 are not efficient from the result of runs test, that the stock market is efficient except 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2017 in SSEC and 2005, 2016 and 2017 in SZSEC and that SSEC is more influenced by SZSEC but SSEC influences SZSEC less from the result of the virtual experiment.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.9
• /
• pp.37-45
• /
• 2015

Purpose - This paper's aim is to investigate whether or not gross profitability explains the cross-sectional variation of the stock returns in the Korean stock market. Gross profitability is an alternative profitability measure proposed by Novy-Marx in 2013 to predict cross-sectional variation of stock returns in the US. He shows that the gross profitability adds explanatory power to the Fama-French 3 factor model. Interestingly, gross profitability is negatively correlated with the book-to-market ratio. By confirming the gross profitability premium in the Korean stock market, we may provide some implications regarding the well-known value premium. In addition, our empirical results may provide opportunities for the fund distribution industry to promote brand new styles of funds. Research design, data, and methodology - For our empirical analysis, we collect monthly market prices of all the companies listed on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) of the Korea Exchanges (KRX). Our sample period covers July1994 to December2014. The data from the company financial statementsare provided by the financial information company WISEfn. First, using Fama-Macbeth cross-sectional regression, we investigate the relation between gross profitability and stock return performance. For robustness in analyzing the performance of the gross profitability strategy, we consider value weighted portfolio returns as well as equally weighted portfolio returns. Next, using Fama-French 3 factor models, we examine whether or not the gross profitability strategy generates excess returns when firmsize and the book-to-market ratio are controlled. Finally, we analyze the effect of firm size and the book-to-market ratio on the gross profitability strategy. Results - First, through the Fama-MacBeth cross-sectional regression, we show that gross profitability has almost the same explanatory power as the book-to-market ratio in explaining the cross-sectional variation of the Korean stock market. Second, we find evidence that gross profitability is a statistically significant variable for explaining cross-sectional stock returns when the size and the value effect are controlled. Third, we show that gross profitability, which is positively correlated with stock returns and firm size, is negatively correlated with the book-to-market ratio. From the perspective of portfolio management, our results imply that since the gross profitability strategy is a distinctive growth strategy, value strategies can be improved by hedging with the gross profitability strategy. Conclusions - Our empirical results confirm the existence of a gross profitability premium in the Korean stock market. From the perspective of the fund distribution industry, the gross profitability portfolio is worthy of attention. Since the value strategy portfolio returns are negatively correlated with the gross profitability strategy portfolio returns, by mixing both portfolios, investors could be better off without additional risk. However, the profitable firms are dissimilar from the value firms (high book-to-market ratio firms); therefore, an alternative factor model including gross profitability may help us understand the economic implications of the well-known anomalies such as value premium, momentum, and low volatility. We reserve these topics for future research.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.45-66
• /
• 2023

Purpose - This paper examines whether overnight returns and idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL) jointly affects the cross-section of expected stock returns in the Korean stock market. Design/methodology/approach - Constructing 5×5 bivariate monthly portfolios independently sorted on overnight returns and IVOL, this paper tests whether overpricing of stocks with high overnight returns is more pronounced for the stocks that also have high IVOL. In addition, we also investigate whether time-variation in the degree of overpricing for those stocks can be explained by market volatility. Findings - Our results show that stocks having both high overnight returns and high IVOL exhibit strong negative returns in the future. In contrast, we are unable to observe such negative returns for the stocks that have high overnight returns and low IVOL. This suggests that overpricing of stocks with high overnight returns is concentrated for the stocks having high IVOL. Moreover, we also find that the degree to which such stocks are overpriced is negatively related to market volatility. Research implications or Originality - his paper is the first attempt to explore whether degree of overpricing of stocks having high overnight returns is related to IVOL. We also discover time-varying property of overpricing is jointly driven by overnight returns and IVOL. Our results indicate that IVOL might help explain other previously documented stock return anomalies, suggesting interesting topics for future research.

• Management Science and Financial Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.1-4
• /
• 2012

We study optimal trading strategy of a market maker with stock inventory. Following Avellaneda and Stoikov (2008), we assume the stock price follows a normal distribution. However, we take a constant expected rate of the stock return and assume that the stock volatility is an inverse function of the stock price level. We show that the optimal bid-ask spread of the market maker is wider for a higher expected rate of stock returns.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.741-749
• /
• 2021

The research paper endeavors to investigate the presence of seasonal anomalies in the Indian equity market. It also aims to verify the notion that equity markets are for long-term investors. The study employs daily index data of Sensex, Bombay Stock Exchange, to understand its volatility for the period ranging from January 2001 to August 2020. To analyze the seasonal effects in the stock market of India, multiple regression techniques along with descriptive analysis, graphical analysis and various statistical tests are used. The study also employs the rolling returns at different time intervals in order to understand the underlying risks and volatility involved in equity returns. The results from the analysis reveal that daily and monthly seasonality is not present in Sensex returns i.e., investors cannot earn abnormal returns by timing their investment decisions. Hence, the major finding of this study is that the Indian stock market performance is random, and the returns are efficient. The other major conclusion of the research is that the equity returns are profitable in the long run providing investors a hope that they can make gains and compensate for the loss in one period by a superior performance in some other periods.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.243-254
• /
• 2020

Purpose - This paper explores whether overnight returns measured from the last closing price to today's opening price explain the cross-section of stock returns. Design/methodology/approach - This study is conducted using the Korean stock market data from 1998 to 2018, obtained from DataGuide database. The analysis begins with portfolio-level tests, followed by firm-level cross-sectional regressions. Findings - First, when decile portfolios sorted on the daily average of overnight returns in the previous months, the highest decile portfolio exhibits a significant negative risk-adjusted return. This suggests that stocks with higher average overnight returns are temporarily overvalued due to buying pressure from investors. Second, at least 6 months of persistence exists in average overnight returns, which is in line with the results reported by Barber, Odean and Zhu (2009) that investor sentiment persists over several weeks. Finally, Fama-MacBeth cross-sectional regression of expected returns after controlling for a variety of firm characteristic variables such as firm size, book-to-market ratio, market beta, momentum, liquidity, short-term reversal, the slope coefficient for overnight returns remains negative and statistically significant. Research implications or Originality - Overall, the evidence consistently suggests that overnight return is considered as a new priced factor in the cross-section of expected returns. The findings of this paper not only adds to finance literature, but also could be useful to practitioners in making stock investment decision.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.7 no.12
• /
• pp.683-692
• /
• 2020

The primary purpose of the study is to investigate the volatility spillovers from global economic policy uncertainty and macroeconomic factors to the Islamic stock market returns. The study focuses on the Islamic stock indices of emerging economies including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey. The Macroeconomic factors are industrial production, consumer price index, exchange rate. EGARCH model is employed for investigation of volatility spillovers. The results show that the global economic policy uncertainty has a significant spillover effect only on the returns of Turkish Islamic stock index. Similarly, the shocks in macroeconomic factors have little influence on the volatility of Islamic indices returns. The volatility of Indonesian and the Turkish Islamic stock indices returns is not influenced from the fluctuations in macroeconomic factors. However, there is significant volatility spillover only from industrial production to the returns of Malaysian Islamic index. The results suggest that the Islamic stock markets are less likely to influence from the global economic policies and macroeconomic factors. The stability of Islamic stocks provide opportunity for diversification of portfolios, particularly in stressed market conditions. The major price factors of Islamic markets could be firms' specific factors or investors' behaviors. The findings are helpful for policy makers and investors in formulating policies and portfolios.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2016

This study investigates daily stock market anomalies in Chinese stock market, using nine most representative stock indices over an eleven year time period spanning from pre-financial crisis era to six years into the financial crisis. This research is the first to test the presence of the day of the week effect on stock returns in the Chinese stock exchanges during the financial crisis. We find that the day of week effects have been strongly significant in Chinese stock exchanges since 2004. However, unlike the previously found negative Monday effect and positive Friday effect in the U.S., Chinese stock market shows positive returns on Mondays and negative returns on Tuesdays. More importantly, the negative Tuesday effect is only significant after the inception of financial crisis. The results indicate a positive effect on Mondays and a negative effect on Thursdays. More importantly, we find a negative Tuesday effect during the financial crisis, which suggests a spillover of the Monday effect from the U.S. stock market. Our results shed some light on the degree of market efficiency in the largest emerging capital market in the world, and its increasingly close relationship with the U.S. capital market.