Oil price shocks and stock market returns: New evidence from the United States and China

This study examines the time-varying correlations between oil prices shocks of different types (supply-side, aggregate demand and oil-market specific demand as per Kilian (2009) who highlighted that "Not all oil shocks are alike") and stock market returns, using a Scalar-BEKK model. For this study we consider the aggregate stock market indices from two countries, China and the US, reflecting the most important developing and developed financial markets in the world. In addition to the whole market, we also consider correlations from key selected industrial sectors, namely Metals & Mining, Oil & Gas, Retail, Technology and Banking. The sample period runs from 1995 until 2013. We highlight several key points: (i) correlations between oil price shocks and stock returns are clearly and systematically time-varying; (ii) oil shocks of different types show substantial variation in their impact upon stock market returns; (iii) these effects differ widely across industrial sectors; and finally (iv) China is seemingly more resilient to oil price shocks than the US

Dynamic spillovers of oil price shocks and economic policy uncertainty

This study examines the dynamic relationship between changes in oil prices and the economic policy uncertainty index for a sample of both net oil-exporting and net oil-importing countries over the period 1997:01–2013:06. To achieve that, an extension of the Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2012) dynamic spillover index based on structural decomposition is employed. The results reveal that economic policy uncertainty (oil price shocks) responds negatively to aggregate demand oil price shocks (economic policy uncertainty shocks). Furthermore, during the Great Recession of 2007–2009, total spillovers increase considerably, reaching unprecedented heights. Moreover, in net terms, economic policy uncertainty becomes the dominant transmitter of shocks between 1997 and 2009, while in the post-2009 period there is a significant role for supply-side and oil specific demand shocks, as net transmitters of spillover effects. These results are important for policy makers, as well as, investors interested in the oil market

Dynamic co-movements of stock market returns, implied volatility and policy uncertainty

We examine time-varying correlations among stock market returns, implied volatility and policy uncertainty. Our findings suggest that correlations are indeed time-varying and sensitive to oil demand shocks and US recessions. Highlights: We examine dynamic correlations of stock market returns, implied volatility and policy uncertainty. Dynamic correlations reveal heterogeneous patterns during US recessions. Aggregate demand oil price shocks and US recessions affect dynamic correlations. A rise in the volatility of policy uncertainty dampens stock market returns and increases uncertainty. Increases in stock market volatility reduce stock market returns and increase uncertainty

Dynamic correlation between stock market and oil prices: The case of oil-importing and oil-exporting countries

The paper investigates the time-varying correlation between stock market prices and oil prices for oil-importing and oil-exporting countries. A DCC-GARCH-GJR approach is employed to test the above hypothesis based on data from six countries; Oil-exporting: Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Oil-importing: USA, Germany, Netherlands. The contemporaneous correlation results show that i) although time-varying correlation does not differ for oil-importing and oil-exporting economies, ii) the correlation increases positively (negatively) in respond to important aggregate demand-side (precautionary demand) oil price shocks, which are caused due to global business cycle’s fluctuations or world turmoil (i.e. wars). Supply-side oil price shocks do not influence the relationship of the two markets. The lagged correlation results show that oil prices exercise a negative effect in all stock markets, regardless the origin of the oil price shock. The only exception is the 2008 global financial crisis where the lagged oil prices exhibit a positive correlation with stock markets. Finally, we conclude that in periods of significant economic turmoil the oil market is not a safe haven for offering protection against stock market losses

Options in emerging markets.

Index options are traded in many derivatives markets around the world. These derivatives markets can either operate in efficient or inefficient markets. Most derivatives markets use the best known option pricing model, i. e. the Black and Scholes Option Pricing Model, in order to produce theoretical option prices. However, the model itself assumes that the markets are efficient so that theoretical prices do not differ significantly from market prices. But what is happening in emerging markets? Emerging markets are characterized by many anomalies, which may create problems either to the model or in general to the fair option pricing. This study is concerned with the Athens Stock Exchange and the Athens Derivatives Exchange. Specifically, this research tests the at-the-money index call options on the FTSE/ASE 20 index with two months to expiration. The Greek market is an `emerging' market and this research tries to show that the Black and Scholes model is not an appropriate model for the Athens Stock Exchange or, more generally, for emerging markets, due to its assumptions. Additionally, the research tries to identify market anomalies and to test whether these anomalies have a significant effect on the market option prices. The thesis includes a review of empirical studies on stock and option markets and on the Black and Scholes model. The conclusions of these studies suggest that there are several market anomalies in stock markets that affect option prices. Furthermore, there are many criticisms that can be leveled against the Black and Scholes model and its assumptions. In order to identify the market anomalies and option mis-pricing, we employ a battery of statistical tests. The test results tend to support the previous empirical studies and suggest that the Athens Stock Exchange suffers from several anomalies. The results also indicate the inefficient status of the market. In addition, the Black and Scholes model creates pricing problems in the Greek market. These pricing problems are due to the stock market anomalies and the mis-estimation of the true (historic) volatility from the implied volatility. The final part of the thesis shows the significant effect that the stock market anomalies have on option prices. Market anomalies, such as mis-estimation of the historic volatility, asymmetric information, insider trading and low market depth, have a significant effect on option prices. Adding these anomalies to the Black and Scholes model, we are able to construct a model that can predict market option prices more reliably

Forecasting oil prices: High-frequency financial data are indeed useful.

The paper examines the importance of combining high frequency financial information, along with the oil market fundamentals, in order to gain incremental forecasting accuracy for oil prices. Inspired by French et al. (1986) and Bollerslev et al. (1988), who maintain that future asset returns are also influenced by past volatility, we use daily volatilities and returns from financial and commodity markets to generate real out-of-sample forecasts for the monthly oil futures prices. Our results convincingly show that although the oil market fundamentals are useful for long-run forecasting horizons, the combination of the latter with high-frequency financial data significantly improve oil price forecasts, by reducing the RMSE of the no-change forecast by approximately 68%. Results are even more impressive during the oil price collapse period of 2014-15. These findings suggest that we cannot ignore the information extracted from the financial markets when forecasting oil prices. Our results are both statistically and economically significant, as suggested by several robustness tests

Oil price assumptions for macroeconomic policy

Despite the arguments that are put forward by the literature that oil price forecasts are economically useful, such claim has not been tested to date. In this study we evaluate the economic usefulness of oil price forecasts by means of conditional forecasting of three core macroeconomic indicators that policy makers are predicting, using assumptions about the future path of the oil prices. The chosen indicators are the core inflation rate, industrial production and purchasing price index. We further consider two more indicators, namely inflation expectation and monetary policy uncertainty. To do so, we initially forecast oil prices using a MIDAS framework and subsequently we use regression-based models for our conditional forecasts. Overall, there is diminishing importance of oil price forecasts for macroeconomic projections and policy formulation. An array of arguments is presented as to why this might be the case, which relate to the improved energy efficiency, the contemporary monetary policy tools and the financialisation of the oil market. Our findings remain robust to alternative oil price forecasting frameworks

An analysis between implied and realised volatility in the Greek Derivatives Market

In this article, we examine the relationship between implied and realised volatility in the Greek derivative market. We examine the differences between realised volatility and implied volatility of call and put options for at-the-money index options with a two-month expiration period. The findings provide evidence that implied volatility is not an efficient estimate of realised volatility. Implied volatility creates overpricing, for both call and put options, in the Greek market. This is an indication of inefficiency for the market. In addition, we find evidence that realised volatility ‘Granger causes’ implied volatility for call options, and implied volatility of call options ‘Granger causes’, the implied volatility of put option

Forecasting economic policy uncertainty

Forecasting the economic policy uncertainty in Europe is of paramount importance given the on-going sovereign debt crisis. This paper evaluates monthly economic policy uncertainty index forecasts and examines whether ultra-high frequency information from asset market volatilities and global economic uncertainty can improve the forecasts relatively to the no-change forecast. The results show that the global economic policy uncertainty provides the highest predictive gains, followed by the European and US stock market realized volatilities. In addition, the European stock market implied volatility index is shown to be an important predictor of the economic policy uncertainty

The effects of oil price shocks on stock market volatility: Evidence from European data

The paper investigates the effects of oil price shocks on stock market volatility in Europe by focusing on three measures of volatility, i.e. the conditional, the realized and the implied volatility. The findings suggest that supply-side shocks and oil specific demand shocks do not affect volatility, whereas, oil price changes due to aggregate demand shocks lead to a reduction in stock market volatility. More specifically, the aggregate demand oil price shocks have a significant explanatory power on both current-and forward-looking volatilities. The results are qualitatively similar for the aggregate stock market volatility and the industrial sectors' volatilities. Finally, a robustness exercise using short-and long-run volatility models supports the findings