Islamic Equity Indices Research Articles

Are emerging Islamic equity markets immune from contagion effects during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis? Evidence from the higher-order comoment-based contagion tests

In this paper, we investigate the possible contagion effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on twenty-four emerging Islamic equity markets. To test for contagion, we use statistical tests based on changes in correlation and higher-order comoments. We also split the full sample into three sub-periods while identifying two phases of the COVID-19 crisis. Our main empirical findings indicate significant evidence of contagion during the two COVID-19 phases, especially through the coskewness, cokurtosis, and covolatility channels. Interestingly, we find that most emerging Islamic equity markets are not immune from the contagious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we draw on six behavioural indicators and construct a new index entitled ‘Feverish sentiment’ to examine the causal relationships between investor sentiment and emerging Islamic equity index returns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using both traditional and frequency-domain Granger causality tests, we find significant causal linkages between investor sentiment and some emerging Islamic equity markets in low, medium, and high frequencies. In particular, the results highlight an increase in the predictive power of investor sentiment during the second phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Do Asian Islamic Equities Offer Diversification Benefits in Cryptocurrency Portfolio in Times of Increased Uncertainty?

This study explores whether Islamic equities offer portfolio diversification benefits to cryptocurrency investors. It employs the Continuous Wavelet Transform model to examine the nature of coherence between major cryptocurrency asset classes and major Asian Islamic equity markets on different investment horizons. We consider a range of Islamic equity indices for multiple countries and a basket of three prominent cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. Findings suggest that Asian Islamic equities offer portfolio diversification opportunities. Our findings also imply that Asian Islamic equities are not efficient and are prone to short-term speculative activities.

Dynamic connectedness, spillover, and optimal hedging strategy among FinTech, Sukuk, and Islamic equity markets

The paper investigates the dynamic connectedness, spillover, and optimal hedging strategy of the FinTech, Sukuk, and Islamic equity markets. The CAViaR approach, TVP-VAR Frequency connectedness, and network connectedness approaches are used. We also apply the MVP, MCP, and MCoP approaches to construct portfolios based on the Fintech, Sukuk, and Islamic equity indices. We then compute hedge effectiveness, portfolio performance, and Sharpe ratios. We find that FinTech markets are predominantly intra-connected in the short and medium term; they are significantly interconnected in the long term. In terms of frequency decomposition, volatility transmission among the variables dominates in the short term in comparison with other examined durations. The Russian-Ukrainian War and COVID-19 pandemic both saw a considerable increase in the intensity of volatility transmission. There is higher information transmission from Islamic equity indices and less effective information transmission from Sukuk and Fintech indices. Our findings suggest that the dynamic portfolio weights for MCP and MCoP seem to be similar, but clearly differs from MVP approach. When delving into the existence of Fintech indices as a part of an international fixed-income Islamic investor's portfolio, our paper's findings – being robust to the portfolio construction method – establish that Fintech indices do have a notable role in fixed-income Islamic investment portfolios. Finally, we conclude by highlighting the fact that the benefits of diversifying a portfolio with FinTech and Islamic assets fluctuate with time and on a regular basis.

How do sectoral Islamic equity markets react to geopolitical risk, economic policy uncertainty, and oil price shocks?

This study explores the impact of three major risk and uncertainty indices (Geopolitical Risk (GPR), Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU), and Oil Market Volatility (OVX)) on the Dow Jones Islamic Market (DJIM) World and the ten major sectoral Islamic equity indices. The investigation further evaluates whether the impact of these uncertainties varies between Islamic sectoral indices and the global benchmark. Our time-varying analysis shows that most Islamic equity indices are more resilient in hedging against GPR and EPU shocks compared to OVX shocks. Furthermore, the Quantile-on-Quantile results establish a positive correlation between DJIM World and most Islamic equity indices with GPR, demonstrating their robust capabilities to hedge against GPR shocks. These hedging abilities are more pronounced in the consumer goods, oil & gas, and financial sectors. The dependence structures between extreme EPU shocks and the DJIM world and consumer goods, financials, healthcare, and industrial sectors are positive only in bearish conditions, suggesting hedging benefits are predominantly limited to lower quantiles. Yet, the basic materials and oil & gas sectors can hedge EPU shocks better than the DJIM world and other sectors, depending on market states. Notably, no Islamic equity indices show resilience against OVX shocks. Our findings have prominent portfolio risk management and policy implications for investors and policymakers. These findings hold significant implications for portfolio risk management and policy strategies for investors and policymakers.

Bitcoin Vs Gold: Which One is the Most Powerful in Boosting the Shariah Equity Index? Global Evidence

Abstract The study explores the most powerful between Bitcoin and Gold in boosting the Shariah Equity Index in Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Indonesia, The United States of America (USA), Japan, Oman, and Saudi Arabia in the short and long term. The study uses analysis of the first and second stages of the Granger Causality Test and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), then Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Variance Decomposition (VDC) over the period 2013 to 2021. The finding proves that only Gold can affect the Islamic Equity Index in the short term, then Bitcoin and Gold proved to contribute equally to the Islamic Equity Index in the long term. However, Bitcoin has the potential to provide positively correlated shocks and dominate the value of Islamic equity indices in the long term. The results demonstrate that government intervention is decisive in maintaining the stability of the Shariah Equity Index from future Bitcoin threats. The study’s finding has practical implications for Islamic capital market Investors, Managers, and Authorities.

Dynamic linkages between Islamic equity indices, oil prices, gold prices, and news-based uncertainty: New insights from partial and multiple wavelet coherence

This study examines the dynamic relationships between Islamic stocks, oil prices, gold prices, and global policy uncertainty. We used monthly data for the Dow Jones world Islamic stock index, oil prices, and global policy uncertainty from 1996M1 to 2018M12. We employed a cointegration approach, a discrete wavelet, a wavelet-based Granger causality test, a continuous wavelet, wavelet coherence, partial wavelet coherence, and multiple wavelet coherence. The findings of the study exhibit strong bi-directional Granger causality for both the original and decomposed series among the variables considered. Wavelet coherence revealed positive coherence between gold prices and Islamic stocks, negative coherence between gold prices and Islamic stocks due to global policy uncertainty, negative medium-run coherence between gold prices and oil prices during crisis periods, and positive coherence between oil prices and Islamic stocks. By adding new series, MWC always has a stronger correlation than PWC in the short, medium, and long term.

The Size Anomaly in Islamic Stock Indices: A Stochastic Dominance Approach

This paper examines whether small Islamic firms’ returns stochastically dominate (outperform) the returns of large Islamic firms using Ascending and Descending Stochastic Dominance (ASD and DSD) approaches. In other words, we investigate the size anomaly in Islamic equity indices. We use global, European, Asian/Pacific, and US Islamic equity indices from 1996 to 2019. For risk-averse investors, we find that small-size portfolios of Islamic indices ASD outperform large-sized portfolios in Asia/Pacific and Europe, while the opposite is true in the Dow Jones and the US. For risk-seeking investors, we find that small-sized portfolios of Islamic indices DSD outperform large-sized portfolios in the Dow Jones and the US, while the opposite is true in Asia/Pacific and Europe. We conclude that a size anomaly is present, and Islamic stock indices are inefficient in the semi-strong form. The results of this study should assist those who are interested in investing in Islamic equity markets in building their investment portfolios.

COVID-19 and the ASEAN stock market: a wavelet analysis of conventional and Islamic equity indices

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Islamic and conventional equities. Design/methodology/approach To study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ASEAN Islamic and conventional equities, first, the authors calculated the volatility by using exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity methodology and then used Wavelet methodology to see the co-movement between the volatility and returns of ASEAN equity market indicators and COVID-19 cases. Findings The authors find that until the beginning of August, COVID-19 adversely relates to the returns of both the indices. The conventional index seemed to have increased volatility during the time period, whereas the Islamic index seemed to have declined volatility. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the very few studies examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ASEAN Islamic and conventional equities. Additionally, this study adds value by comparing Islamic and conventional equities.

Connectedness between the COVID-19 related media coverage and Islamic equities: The role of economic policy uncertainty

This paper examines the static and dynamic return and volatility connectedness among Islamic equity indices and a Coronavirus coverage index over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis. We employ ten major sectoral equity indices covering main economic sectors and the Coronavirus media coverage index (MCI) and apply the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive methodology (TVP-VAR). The results show a high degree of connectedness between the return and volatility series of the different sectoral indices. Moreover, the information transmission between these indices and the media coverage index shows that Islamic equities are net receivers of shocks from the coronavirus MCI. Additionally, we investigate the causality between the different connectedness measures and the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU). Our results indicate that EPU has predictive power on the net connectedness between the Islamic sectoral equities and the Coronavirus MCI.

An examination of whether gold-backed Islamic cryptocurrencies are safe havens for international Islamic equity markets

This study investigated the safe-haven role of two gold-backed Islamic cryptocurrencies, i.e., OneGram Coin (OGC) and X8X Token (X8X), for 15 Islamic equity indices at the global, regional, and country levels. For this purpose, we used four-moment modified value at risk, dynamic conditional correlation-based hedge and safe-haven hypotheses, directional spillover in quantiles, and daily data from February 17, 2019, to May 5, 2021, including the post-pandemic period from February 1, 2020, to May 5, 2021. Based on the findings, OGC was a strong safe-haven for several Islamic equity markets, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also constructed two novel polarity and subjectivity measures using natural language processing, which indicated that when negativity in the market (e.g., polarity, subjectivity, and economic/market uncertainty) is higher on social media platforms, OGC produces positive returns in order to reduce the losses in equity indices. These results hold after controlling for trading volume.

Monetary transmissions mechanism for Islamic capital markets: evidence from Markov switching dynamic regression approach

PurposeThis study akims to investigate the effectiveness of expansionary monetary policy for Islamic capital markets by studying the impact of decrease in policy rates on seven Islamic equity indices for the period 1996–2019. The transmission mechanism may be different for sampled indices, as they are exposed to Shariah screening that discards certain business sectors and puts limit on debt in capital structure.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses Markov Switching dynamic regression approach of Hamilton (1988).FindingsThe results show little effectiveness of expansionary monetary policy in both Bear and Bull states, for most of the sample indices.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has made use of dynamic models to assess the association between monetary policy rate and Islamic index prices. Similarly, the authors found no work exploring the effectiveness of expansionary monetary policy actions in different regime for Islamic Indices. This investigation is important in unraveling whether, in the presence of limitations on selection of business activity and choice of capital structure, monetary policy can change the market sentiment, or it will be ineffective. The present study fills this gap.

DO ISLAMIC CRYPTOCURRENCIES PROVIDE DIVERSIFICATION OPPORTUNITIES TO INDONESIAN ISLAMIC INVESTORS?

This study examines whether Islamic gold-backed cryptocurrencies (Onegram and X8X) provide any diversification benefits to the Islamic investors of Indonesia. We study the co-movements between return and volatility of cryptocurrencies and Indonesian Islamic equity indices during the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods. We employ Multivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic-Dynamic Conditional Correlation (M-GARCH-DCC) and Continuous Wavelet Transforms (CWT) for this study. We find that the COVID-19 crisis enhanced the spillover effect among the Islamic gold-backed cryptocurrencies and Islamic equities. We also provide evidence that Indonesian investors may invest in cryptocurrencies to minimize the equity sector risks during the pandemic. Our results bear significant implications for portfolio diversification strategies for Indonesian investors.

Islamic equity indices: a focus group discussion

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to highlight key issues pertaining to making use of Islamic equity indices and proposing possible solutions to address the problems faced in advancement of the concept of Shariah investing (SI) with the aim to advance the discourse on the subject.Design/methodology/approachOnline focus group discussion (FGD) was carried out in which ten Islamic finance researchers and analysts belonging to institutions considered as authority on the subject matter participated to share their viewpoints on Islamic equity indices. Content analysis on the collected data of FGD was carried out which has revealed six key themes.FindingsSix broader themes were identified based on the analysis of FGD, which includes criteria for constructing Islamic equity indices, utilization of Islamic equity indices for comparison with conventional stock indices, stock market efficiency perspectives, reason for integration of different equity markets, investors’ awareness of SI and future directions of Islamic equity indices. Results of the study indicate that Islamic finance researchers and analysts opined that there is a need for revising the criteria for construction of Islamic equity indices. There are conflicting viewpoints regarding performance and efficiency of Islamic indices in comparison with conventional indices and main reasons for stock market integration are trade liberalization, globalization and other factors. Moreover, there is a need for making investors and other market players aware about the attractiveness of Islamic indices from investing point of view.Originality/valueBased on this extensive literature review and as highlighted by Masih et al. (2018) in their recap of literature on Islamic equity indices indicating that there are bulk of empirical studies carried in the past in the domain, however, there is a dearth of theoretical and qualitative studies. Hence, this preliminary qualitative study not only makes theoretical contribution but also deploys FGD, which is rarely used in the similar context, and offers candid views of the participants on key issues pertaining to Islamic equity indices. This lends novelty to this study.

Islamic equity investments and the COVID-19 pandemic

Global equity markets experienced a substantial downfall with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the peak of the downfall, S&P Dow Jones reported that their Islamic equity indexes (IEIs) continued to outperform their conventional counterparts in the first quarter of 2020. The equity markets have since recovered and have touched historical peaks. This study empirically investigates how Islamic equity investment weathered the troughs and peaks of equity markets during the COVID-19 pandemic by using a sample consisting of global, US, European, and Asian IEIs, and daily data for the period starting from 01 May 2018 to 30 April 2021. During the COVID-19 period, we find that IEIs exhibit significant excess returns on a nominal and risk-adjusted basis. We find evidence to suggest that IEIs do provide resistance/hedging during extreme market downfalls, albeit only those adhering to the market-value-of-equity (MVE) approach for Shariah screening. As a caution to investors, the hedging benefit associated with IEIs is observed only when there is a big swing in the market.

The Screening Process of Islamic Indexes: A Case of Karachi Meezan Index

Strong and fair screening process is one of the fundamental factors for Islamic equity indices to service in market. The Muslim investors wish to make investment in such a way that does not contradict with their religion, Islam. Hence, while making their decision towards Islamic equities, the investors confirm Islamic perspective and Sharia transparency of the Islamic indices on priority bases. The current available literature only covers the Sharia component of the whole screening process adopted by Karachi Meezan Index. The complete screening process adopted by said index has another essential component known as “Technical Filter”. This component plays same role to include or exclude equity from the Karachi Meezan Index as Sharia component plays; on behalf of technical filter we can exclude equity from Karachi Meezan Index. Reputation, performance, free float market capitalization, and impact cost are key elements of technical filter. Therefore, pure qualitative study is conducted to fill this gap by describing sequential and detailed screening process methodology through narrative views of high ranked policy makers’ employees working in Karachi Meezan Index.

Reevaluating the risk minimization utility of Islamic stocks and bonds (Sukuk) in international financial markets

We examine the risk minimization utility of Islamic stock and Sukuk (bond) indices by studying their linkages against traditional global counterparts. We first employ an asymmetric power ARCH-based ADCC model on an extended dataset employed by Kenourgios et al. (2016). Our sample ranges from July 2007 to June 2021 covering the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the European Sovereign Debt Crisis (ESDC), and the COVID-19 pandemic. Econometric tests suggest strong evidence of coupling in the bulk of Islamic equity indices. A handful of emerging market indices constitute exceptions. Qualitatively similar results emerge from time–frequency analysis via wavelet tools, revealing pervasive coupling in both returns and volatility series. The linkages are scale-dependent in only a few pairs. In contrast, Sukuk indices are uncoupled from their global fixed income counterparts and relevant risky debt portfolios. In sum, the risk-return characteristics of Islamic equities (especially in developed economies) remain coupled to major global benchmarks and therefore are unlikely to appeal as safe haven candidates. The converse applies to Sukuk, which promises potential portfolio diversification benefits and safe haven status in ‘normal’ and crisis periods.

Identifying the asymmetric price dynamics of Islamic equities: Implications for international investors

This study investigates the long-run asymmetric price dynamics of Islamic equity indexes and their conventional peers during the 2002–2018 period with respect to global equity prices (represented by a broad global equity index). We applied hidden cointegration and asymmetric causality tests to the indexes for 20 developed and 17 developing countries. Our findings have revealed neither the positive nor negative components of Islamic and conventional indexes to be cointegrated with the broad global equity index apart from a few cases. Rather than hidden cointegration results, we have found significant asymmetric causality effects, particularly in developing countries. Our findings suggest that neither the Islamic or conventional indexes share any common stochastic trend with the broad global equity index in bear and bull markets, which implies different degrees of downward and upward rigidities in the aggregate series. The conclusion section of the research illustrates the implications for international investors.

Performance Evaluation of Islamic and Non-Islamic Equity and Bonds Indices. Evidence from Selected Emerging and Developed Countries

This article has examined the differences in performance between the Islamic and conventional stocks and bond indices in the developed and emerging countries. The sample period is consisted of 2007 to 2018 in equity, whereas the period of debt is from 2014 to 2018. Different risk-adjusted return measurements have been applied to investigate that Islamic stock indices' performance is better than conventional indices. The results show that the Islamic equity indices have better performance than the traditional indices in financial crisis. The individual sample concludes that Islamic equity indices of Germany and the UK perform better than traditional indices, but in the USA conventional indices perform better. The performance of Shariah equity indices in all selected emerging countries is better than the traditional equity indices. This shows that Islamic indices are highly demanded throughout the world as an alternative to traditional indices.

Downside risk in Dow Jones Islamic equity indices: Precious metals and portfolio diversification before and after the COVID-19 bear market

Besides great turmoil in financial markets, the COVID-19 pandemic also disrupted the global supply chain, putting the precious metal market into great uncertainty. In this study, we revisit the diversifying role of precious metals – gold, silver, and platinum – for six Dow Jones Islamic (DJI) equity index portfolios using a battery of tests: dynamic conditional correlations (DCCs), four-moment modified value at risk (VaR) and conditional VaR, and global minimum-variance (GMV) portfolio approach. Our empirical results exhibit drastically increased DCCs between sample assets during the COVID period; however, pairing gold with any of the DJI equity indices (except for the Asia-Pacific region) decreases the downside risk of these portfolios. Other precious metals (silver and platinum) do not provide such benefits. Furthermore, we find that a higher allocation of wealth in DJI Japanese equities and gold is required to achieve a GMV portfolio in the post-COVID-19 era, implying higher transaction (hedging) costs to rebalance portfolios (weights) accordingly. Our out-of-sample tests examining the global financial crisis, European debt crisis, and extended sample (2000–2020) periods yield similar findings as gold glitters across all market conditions. Overall, our findings provide notable practical implications for both domestic and international investors.

Faith-based investments and the Covid-19 pandemic: Analyzing equity volatility and media coverage time-frequency relations

We perform time-frequency wavelet-based analysis to explore how the media coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic influenced the volatility of the Islamic equity indices, covering various sectors of economic activity. Our results show that the coherence between the Media Coverage Index and the moves of the Islamic stocks varies from low and medium to high levels. We attribute the intervals of low coherence to the diversification potential of Islamic equity investments during a systemic pandemic such as Covid-19. We document differences in the patterns exhibited by various indices per sector, showing their potential role for designing hedging strategies across sectors, based on stocks of companies which comply with Shariah.