Across the globe, COVID-19 has disrupted the financial markets, making them more volatile. Thus, this paper examines the market volatility and asymmetric behavior of Bitcoin, EUR, S&P 500 index, Gold, Crude Oil, and Sugar during the COVID-19 pandemic. We applied the GARCH (1, 1), GJR-GARCH (1, 1), and EGARCH (1, 1) econometric models on the daily time series returns data ranging from 27 November 2018 to 15 June 2021. The empirical findings show a high level of volatility persistence in all the financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the Crude Oil and S&P 500 index shows significant positive asymmetric behavior during the pandemic. Apart from this, the results also reveal that EGARCH is the most appropriate model to capture the volatilities of the financial markets before the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas during the COVID-19 period and for the whole period, each GARCH family evenly models the volatile behavior of the six financial markets. This study provides financial investors and policymakers with useful insight into adopting effective strategies for constructing portfolios during crises in the future.

This study investigates the returns spillovers across the equity markets of Asian emerging economies (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand). To achieve this objective, we used two different spillover methodologies (DY 2012 and BK 2018). Moreover, this study used the daily closing prices of equity indices ranging from 5 January 2005 to 13 November 2021. The empirical findings revealed that the total spillover index using DY 2012, and the short-term frequency index using BK 2018, are close to each other, with values of 46.92% and 43.04%, respectively. However, the spillover index value is high, with a value of 56.25% in the long run. Furthermore, the results showed that the stock markets of South Korea and Taiwan are the major spillover transmitters in the Asian emerging markets. Also, the financial association among all emerging Asian equities is at its peak, subject to the mobility of cash flows across the global economies. The results of this study provide meaningful insight for policymakers and investors to implement an effective strategy to overcome the possible influence of any financial crisis in the future. Our paper provides a potential contribution to the financial literature by examining the transmission of spillovers across the Asian emerging stock markets. Furthermore, it provides in-depth information regarding stock market interdependence.

DO CRISES IMPACT RETURN SPILLOVERS?: EVIDENCE FROM ASIA-PACIFIC DEVELOPED STOCK MARKETS DO CRISES IMPACT RETURN SPILLOVERS?: EVIDENCE FROM ASIA-PACIFIC DEVELOPED STOCK MARKETS

Global financial markets have experienced significant volatility during crises, particularly COVID-19 and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, prompting questions about how regional markets respond to such shocks. Previous research highlights the influence of crises on stock market volatility, focusing on individual events or global markets, but less is known about the comparative dynamics within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. Our study investigated volatility and asymmetric behavior within GCC stock markets during both crises. Furthermore, the econometric model E-GARCH(1,1) was applied to the daily frequency data of financial stock market returns from 11 March 2020 to 31 July 2023. This study examined volatility fluctuation patterns and provides a comparative assessment of GCC stock markets’ behavior during crises. Our findings reveal varying degrees of market volatility across the region during the COVID-19 crisis, with Qatar and the UAE exhibiting the highest levels of volatility persistence. In contrast, the Russia–Ukraine conflict has had a distinct effect on GCC markets, with Oman exhibiting the highest volatility persistence and Kuwait having the lowest volatility persistence. This study provides significant insights for policymakers and investors in managing risk and enhancing market resilience during economic and geopolitical uncertainty.