Verbal Qualitative Information in the Daily "La Presse" and the Stock Performance of Tunisian Financial Companies

Abstract

Relevant financial information is a central concern in the daily life of investors. However, despite the deterioration of the role of classical media channels, the written press, the latter remains an undeniable tool influencing the stock market. In this context, we have collected 1720 articles published in the newspaper the press of Tunis, during 6 years going from 2010 until 2015. In addition, we have used two dynamic models, first to test the impact of verbal qualitative information of print media on the stock returns of Tunisian financial companies and second to test the impact of stock returns on qualitative verbal information of print media. The estimation of the model is performed by the generalized method of moments (GMM) in dynamic panels, using the sofware STATA 12. The results of the empirical study show on the one hand, that the stock exchange of Tunis reacts positively following the publication of positive qualitative information and on the other hand the stock exchange reacts negatively following the publication of negative qualitative information. In sum, despite the deterioration of the place of the written press, we noticed following this study that the qualitative information of classic media remains relevant. Bad information published negatively affects the market and more precisely stock returns. However, it is essential to emphasize good qualitative and quantitative financial communication in the traditional media for the smooth running of the Tunisian financial market.