Do Stock Returns Reflect the Influence of the Pandemic on Businesses? An Empirical Study from the Indian Capital Market

Abstract

This research study aims to explore whether the impact of the pandemic on different sectors was reflected in the stock market returns or not. The study has taken eight sectors of the Indian economy and started with the assumed impact of the pandemic on those industries based on popular perceptions. Then, it validated the assumed impact with the help of the analysis of the financial statements. Once the impact has been validated with the help of the financial statements, the effect on the stock market returns has been computed by comparing the changes in the stock returns for each industry with those in the index returns from the pre-pandemic times to post-pandemic times. The study reveals that the stock returns in most of the sectors reflected the influence of the pandemic on the businesses with a few exceptions. The exceptions where the stock market returns did not reflect the influence of the pandemic have been explained with the help of the measures taken by the businesses to mitigate the effect of the pandemic or with the help of other intervening factors.