VALUING INTEGRATION IN ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PRE AND POST-COVID-19 PERIODS

Abstract

Lately, the epidemic different the whole set-up of worldwide employment and cross-capital movement. Coronavirus caused unlimited fluctuations across the world. Research focuses on exploring the influence of covid-19 happening the global associations of the Pakistan ordinary market with additional nations now shortage. From standpoint, aforementioned adjustment elucidates the prospective influence of the COVID-19 epidemic on the immediate and prolonged financial integration among six growing Asian economies, namely Pakistan, Japan, China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The daily closing indices of several countries were assessed for the period spanning from January 2017 to December 2022. Pre-covid-19 periods (January 1, 2017, to December 2019, and Post-covid-19 periods (from January 1, 2020)) and Post-covid-19 periods make up the two groups of the entire study period. Logarithmic exchange-traded returns were calculated for the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSE), and Bursa Stock Exchange (FTSE). By expending the Johansen co-integration and Granger causality tests, respectively, the integration among the chosen economies was studied for both long- and short-run integration. The study answers the question, to what extent do the chosen stock markets exhibit long-run co-integration? If so, please tell me whether or if COVID-19 has affected it. Is there a short-term unidirectional or bidirectional causal relationship between these markets? If so, please tell me whether or if COVID-19 has affected it.