Anomalies or illusions? Evidence from stock markets in eighteen countries

Abstract

This paper examines five seasonal patterns in stock markets of eighteen countries: the weekend, turn-of-the-month, end-of-December, monthly and Friday-the-thirteenth effects. We find a daily seasonal in nearly all the countries, but a weekend effect in only nine countries. Interestingly, the daily seasonal largely disappears in the 1980s. The last trading day of the month has large returns and low variance in most countries. Many countries have large December pre-holiday and inter-holiday returns. The January returns are large in most countries and a significant monthly seasonal exists in ten countries.