COVID-19 Pandemic and Stock Market Performance in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of government intervention to the global pandemic on stock market performance in Nigeria. It employs daily data of the NSE All Share Index, WTI spot price and exchange rate data spanning from 6th of June, 2019 to 28th of September, 2020 and a dummy series that takes value of 1s from 30th of March, 2020 upward and 0s for the periods before the announcement of the lockdown restriction. Result from the ARDL model reveals that government policies have negative and significant transitory effects on stock returns however, the long run model shows existence of positive and significant relationship between the variables. The implication of our findings is relevant for predicting profitability and the performance of stock market in Nigeria particularly in turbulent periods.