Title: COVID-19 and financial markets: a comparative analysis of sustainable and conventional indices

Authors: Mohit Saini; Mahender

Addresses: Department of Commerce, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India ' Department of Commerce, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked the whole financial market after the 2008 financial crisis. In the last decade, markets have given various investment avenues to safeguard the invested funds during the time of crisis, sustainable investments are one among them. Hence, this study aims to examine how COVID-19 has impacted sustainable indices as compared to conventional indices. This study adopted the method of event study to analyse the pandemic impacts. The findings of the study indicate that the COVID-19 has severe impacts on conventional indices. On the other side, the cumulative average abnormal returns increase post the pandemic lockdown announcement. Returns in the post-event window were highly volatile in the case of conventional indices. Finally, it observed that the sustainable indices were faster to absorb the impact of the COVID-19. The study would be helpful for policymakers, investors and portfolio managers.

Keywords: sustainable investment; COVID-19; India; Pandemic; event study; socially responsible investment; ESG.

DOI: 10.1504/IJDIPE.2024.142534

International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy, 2024 Vol.10 No.2, pp.138 - 152

Received: 11 Apr 2023
Accepted: 13 Jun 2023
Published online: 08 Nov 2024 *

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