Responses of US equity market sectors to the Silicon Valley Bank implosion

Abstract

Considering the new role of social media to quickly effect bank runs, it is critical to investigate the impact of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse on US market sectors. Using an event study approach, we identify significant (negative) abnormal returns on the event date only for the financial, materials, and real estate sectors, with no sector reactions for the pre-event period. The most significant impact, not surprisingly, was to the financial sector. Results are consistent with the SVB failure not being anticipated by investors and subsequent impacts to most sectors being shared at the market level with limited heterogeneity.