The impact of COVID-19 news, panic and media coverage on the oil and gold prices: An ARDL approach

Abstract

This study investigates whether COVID-19 news, panic and media coverage affect oil and gold prices. Using the ARDL approach over the period January 23, 2020 to June 23, 2020, we find that COVID-19 deaths and panic have negative effects on crude oil price. However, the propaganda created by the media in the long term has a negative impact on oil price. The empirical results show that the COVID-19 new infections, deaths and media coverage have positive effects on the gold price. Our findings prove that oil price is sensitive to bad news unlike gold price. According to our study, gold, which is a hedge against economic and geopolitical crises, is additionally a safe haven during COVID-19 health crisis. Overall, our results also demonstrate that the economic and financial uncertainty affect oil and gold prices negatively during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conclude that the impact of the COVID-19 new infections on oil and gold prices is depending on whether the disease is an epidemic or a pandemic.