UK, US, and China’s Stock Market Reactions to The Russia-Ukraine War: An Inspection across Industries

Abstract

The Russia-Ukraine crisis is expected to have a considerable impact on the global economy. By applying the event study approach, we examine the effect of the war on the UK, the US, and China across ten major industries over different lengths of the event window around 22 February 2022. The observed significant cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) in specific industries, along with the differences between nations, are comprehensively analyzed with actual situations faced by each country. Through comparisons, the UK is concluded to be mainly more affected by the crisis than the US and China, especially in the material, information technology, and consumer staples industries. Notably, all three countries are observed to have positive and significant CARs across the event window, which provides strong evidence of the adverse impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the global energy supply. In other industries, the harmful effects of the crisis vary from countries. This study could provide a new, broad inspection of the ongoing crisis at a macro level and a substantial information reference for policymakers.