The Relationship Between Islamic Stock Markets and Business Cycles: A Regional Perspective

Abstract

The unstable nature of business cycles makes it necessary to study the relationships between stock performance and economic activity. Novel to this multifaceted mix are Islamic equity markets which have witnessed tremendous growth over the last decade. This suggests a causal relationship between the performance of the stock market and business cycles. This study attempts to analyse the relationship between the volatility of Islamic stock indices and business cycles and assess how Islamic stock fairs compared with conventional stock indices. Spanning over 10 years, our results indicate that across regions, Islamic indices appeared to be more volatile during times of economic downturn and less volatile during the growth phase of a business cycle.