IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-03538183.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

COVID ‐19 outbreak and sectoral performance of the Australian stock market: An event study analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Md. Mahmudul Alam

    (UUM - Universiti Utara Malaysia)

  • Haitian Wei

    (UUM - Universiti Utara Malaysia)

  • Abu N M Wahid

    (Tennessee State University)

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has weakened the economy of Australia and its capital market since early 2020. The overall stock market has declined. However, some sectors become highly vulnerable while others continue to perform well even in the crisis period. Given this new reality, we seek to investigate the initial volatility and the sectoral return. In this study, we analyse data for eight sectors such as, transportation, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, energy, food, real estate, telecommunications and technology of the Australian stock market. In doing so, we obtain data from Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and analysed them based on `Event Study' method. Here, we use the 10-days window for the event of official announcement of the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia on 27 February, 2020. The findings of the study show that on the day of announcement, the indices for food, pharmaceuticals and healthcare exhibit impressive positive returns. Following the announcement, the telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and healthcare sectors exhibit good performance, while poor performance is demonstrated by the transportation industry. The findings are vital for investors, market participants, companies, private and public policymakers and governments to develop recovery action plans for vulnerable sectors and enable investors to regain their confidence to make better investment decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Md. Mahmudul Alam & Haitian Wei & Abu N M Wahid, 2021. "COVID ‐19 outbreak and sectoral performance of the Australian stock market: An event study analysis," Post-Print hal-03538183, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03538183
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8454.12215
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03538183
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03538183/document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8454.12215?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chun-Da Chen & Chin-Chun Chen & Wan-Wei Tang & Bor-Yi Huang, 2009. "The positive and negative impacts of the sars outbreak:a case of the Taiwan industries," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 43(1), pages 281-293, September.
    2. Shangkari V. Anusakumar & Ruhani Ali & Hooy Chee Wooi, 2017. "The Effect of Investor Sentiment on Stock Returns: Insight from Emerging Asian Markets," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 13(1), pages 159-178.
    3. Jong-Wha Lee & Warwick J. McKibbin, 2004. "Globalization and Disease: The Case of SARS," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 113-131.
    4. Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F Wagner, 2020. "Feverish Stock Price Reactions to COVID-19," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 622-655.
    5. Al-Awadhi, Abdullah M. & Alsaifi, Khaled & Al-Awadhi, Ahmad & Alhammadi, Salah, 2020. "Death and contagious infectious diseases: Impact of the COVID-19 virus on stock market returns," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    6. Zhang, Dayong & Hu, Min & Ji, Qiang, 2020. "Financial markets under the global pandemic of COVID-19," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    7. Chuanyi Wang & Zhe Cheng & Xiao-Guang Yue & Michael McAleer, 2020. "Risk Management of COVID-19 by Universities in China," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-6, February.
    8. Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F Wagner, 0. "Feverish Stock Price Reactions to COVID-19," Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 622-655.
    9. Borenstein, Severin & Zimmerman, Martin B, 1988. "Market Incentives for Safe Commercial Airline Operation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 913-935, December.
    10. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    11. Smith, Richard D. & Yago, Milton & Millar, Michael & Coast, Jo, 2005. "Assessing the macroeconomic impact of a healthcare problem: The application of computable general equilibrium analysis to antimicrobial resistance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1055-1075, November.
    12. Deak, Zsuzsanna & Karali, Berna, 2014. "Stock Market Reactions to Environmental News in the Food Industry," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 46(2), pages 1-17, May.
    13. Yu Shan Wang, 2013. "The impact of crisis events on the stock returns volatility of international airlines," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(12), pages 1206-1217, September.
    14. Broadstock, David C. & Cao, Hong & Zhang, Dayong, 2012. "Oil shocks and their impact on energy related stocks in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1888-1895.
    15. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem, 2020. "Economic impact of government interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic: International evidence from financial markets," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    16. Wong, Grace, 2008. "Has SARS infected the property market Evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 74-95, January.
    17. Reboredo, Juan C. & Rivera-Castro, Miguel A., 2014. "Wavelet-based evidence of the impact of oil prices on stock returns," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 145-176.
    18. Dyckman, T & Philbrick, D & Stephan, J, 1984. "A Comparison Of Event Study Methodologies Using Daily Stock Returns - A Simulation Approach," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22, pages 1-30.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dwipraptono Agus Harjito & Md. Mahmudul Alam & Rani Ayu Kusuma Dewi, 2021. "Impacts of International Sports Events on the Stock Market: Evidence from the Announcement of the 18th Asian Games and 30th Southeast Asian Games," Post-Print hal-03538176, HAL.
    2. Faheem Aslam & Paulo Ferreira & Haider Ali, 2022. "Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Intraday Efficiency of Agricultural Futures Markets," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Talie Kassamany & Bernard Zgheib, 2023. "Impact of government policy responses of COVID‐19 pandemic on stock market liquidity for Australian companies," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 24-46, March.
    4. Daniel Stefan Armeanu & Stefan Cristian Gherghina & Jean Vasile Andrei & Camelia Catalina Joldes, 2022. "Modeling the impact of the COVID‐19 outbreak on environment, health sector and energy market," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1387-1416, October.
    5. Raza, Syed Ali & Shah, Nida & Suleman, Muhammed Tahir, 2024. "A multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of Islamic and conventional financial markets efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    6. Woei Chyuan Wong & Edie Erman Che Johari & Shazida Jan Mohd Khan & Siti Nurazira Mohd Daud & Mohd Yushairi Mat Yusoff & Hafirda Akma Musaddad, 2023. "From Outbreak to Vaccination: An Analysis of the Commercial Property Market Reaction to COVID-19 in Malaysia," International Real Estate Review, Global Social Science Institute, vol. 26(3), pages 267-298.
    7. Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Fawzi, Agung Masyad & Islam, Monirul & Said, Jamaliah, 2022. "Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on National Security Issues: Indonesia as a Case Study," OSF Preprints 5tvb3, Center for Open Science.
    8. Srbinoski Bojan & Meceski Stevco & Joldeska Irina, 2022. "Market Reactions to Government Support Packages During the Pandemic in North Macedonia," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 60(4), pages 429-440, December.
    9. Steven Buigut and Burcu Kapar, 2022. "Do COVID-19 Incidence and Government Intervention Influence Media Indices?," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 79-100.
    10. ATM Adnan & Sameer Al Johani, 2023. "Stock Market Reaction to COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Industry Analysis in Frontier Market," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 157-181, July.
    11. Mbongiseni Ncube & Mabutho Sibanda & Frank Ranganai Matenda, 2023. "COVID-19 Pandemic and Stock Performance: Evidence from the Sub-Saharan African Stock Markets," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, March.
    12. Asafo-Adjei, Emmanuel & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Abakah, Emmanuel Joel Aikins & Lee, Chi-Chuan, 2024. "Risk synchronization in Australia stock market: A sector analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PA), pages 582-610.
    13. Adeel Nasir & Ștefan Cristian Gherghina & Mário Nuno Mata & Kanwal Iqbal Khan & Pedro Neves Mata & Joaquim António Ferrão, 2022. "Testing Stock Market Efficiency from Spillover Effect of Panama Leaks," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aharon, David Y. & Siev, Smadar, 2021. "COVID-19, government interventions and emerging capital markets performance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Rao, Purnima & Goyal, Nisha & Kumar, Satish & Hassan, M. Kabir & Shahimi, Shahida, 2021. "Vulnerability of financial markets in India: The contagious effect of COVID-19," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    3. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Who should be afraid of infections? Pandemic exposure and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Szczygielski, Jan Jakub & Charteris, Ailie & Bwanya, Princess Rutendo & Brzeszczyński, Janusz, 2022. "The impact and role of COVID-19 uncertainty: A global industry analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. Tomás Gómez Rodríguez & Humberto Ríos Bolívar & Adriana Zambrano Reyes, 2021. "Volatilidad y COVID-19: evidencia empírica internacional," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 16(3), pages 1-20, Julio - S.
    6. Md. Bokhtiar Hasan & Masnun Mahi & Tapan Sarker & Md. Ruhul Amin, 2021. "Spillovers of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on Global Economic Activity, the Stock Market, and the Energy Sector," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Huynh, Nhan & Dao, Anh & Nguyen, Dat, 2021. "Openness, economic uncertainty, government responses, and international financial market performance during the coronavirus pandemic," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    8. Manel Youssef & Khaled Mokni & Ahdi Noomen Ajmi, 2021. "Dynamic connectedness between stock markets in the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic: does economic policy uncertainty matter?," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-27, December.
    9. Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Mahi, Masnun & Hassan, M. Kabir & Bhuiyan, Abul Bashar, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stock markets: Conventional vs. Islamic indices using wavelet-based multi-timescales analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    10. Meral Kagitci, 2020. "The impact of COVID – 19 on the stocks’ yield from the pharmaceutical sector," Journal of Financial Studies, Institute of Financial Studies, vol. 9(5), pages 58-71, November.
    11. Chien-Chiang Lee & Mei-Ping Chen, 2022. "The impact of COVID-19 on the travel and leisure industry returns: Some international evidence," Tourism Economics, , vol. 28(2), pages 451-472, March.
    12. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem, 2021. "Stock markets’ reaction to Covid-19: Moderating role of national culture," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    13. Hoang, Huy Viet & Nguyen, Cuong & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2022. "Corporate immunity, national culture and stock returns: Startups amid the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Alomari, Mohammad & Al Rababa'a, Abdel Razzaq & Ur Rehman, Mobeen & Power, David M., 2022. "Infectious diseases tracking and sectoral stock market returns: A quantile regression analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    15. Peng, Yi-Ting & Chang, Tsangyao & Ranjbar, Omid & Xiang, Feiyun, 2024. "Has the COVID-19 pandemic shock transmitted to the u.s. stock market: Evidence using bootstrap (A)symmetric fourier granger causality test in quantiles," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    16. Peng-Fei Dai & Xiong Xiong & Zhifeng Liu & Toan Luu Duc Huynh & Jianjun Sun, 2021. "Preventing crash in stock market: The role of economic policy uncertainty during COVID-19," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-15, December.
    17. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem & Goodell, John W., 2022. "The impact of social cohesion on stock market resilience: Evidence from COVID-19," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    18. Herjuna Qobush Izzahdi & Ani Wilujeng Suryani, 2023. "COVID-19 Vaccination, Government Strict Policy and Capital Market Volatility: Evidence from ASEAN Countries," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 2, pages 117-135.
    19. Wang, Zhixuan & Dong, Yanli & Liu, Ailan, 2022. "How does China's stock market react to supply chain disruptions from COVID-19?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Smales, L.A., 2021. "Investor attention and global market returns during the COVID-19 crisis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Coronavirus; Event study; Abnormal returns; Stock indices; Australian Securities Exchange (ASX);
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03538183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.