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Does Central Bank Tone Move Asset Prices?

Author

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  • Schmeling, Maik
  • Wagner, Christian

Abstract

This paper shows that changes in the tone of central bank communication have a significant effect on asset prices. Tone captures how the central bank frames economic fundamentals and its monetary policy. When tone becomes more positive, stock prices increase, and more so for stocks with high systematic risk, whereas credit spreads and volatility risk premia decrease. These tone effects are robust to controlling for fundamentals, policy actions, and other features of central bank communication, which suggests that tone is a generic instrument of monetary policy that can affect risk premia embedded in asset prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Schmeling, Maik & Wagner, Christian, 2019. "Does Central Bank Tone Move Asset Prices?," CEPR Discussion Papers 13490, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13490
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monetary policy; Central bank communication; Textual analysis; Risk premia; Stock returns; Volatility risk; Credit spreads;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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