Application of COVID-19 Data: Investigating the Impact on Weekly Stock Market Returns in Nigeria
Application of COVID-19 Data: Investigating the Impact on Weekly Stock Market Returns in Nigeria

Summary/Abstract: The study applied Covid-19 data to investigate the dynamics of the pandemic with respect to stock market returns in Nigeria, using weekly Covid-19 data and weekly stock returns for eight months (March –October, 2020), a period in which the pandemic assumed a terrific wave. Employing Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimation techniques, the data were sourced from worldometer. The empirical results showed that economic activities indicated by stock market returns contracted significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, with weekly stock market returns nosediving. Liquidity is positively related with stock market returns, but the impact is weak, apparently due to the weak liquidity that characterized the pandemic. Therefore, this study recommends that, policy measures and strategies to create economic resilience that will stimulate stock market activities are imperative in the form of fiscal injections into the economy; conditional cash transfer (CCT) and other welfare packages. These should be supported with strong institutional and regulatory framework to guide stock market activities in Nigeria.

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