The Return and Volatility Connectedness of NFT Segments and Media Coverage: Fresh Evidence Based on News About the COVID-19 Pandemic.

We study the relationship between return and volatility of non-fungible tokens (NFT) segments and media coverage during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in a connectedness framework. We document media coverage as a net transmitter of spillover for both the return and volatility of NFT segments. We find that NFTs representing the Utilities segment is a major transmitter of spillover. Our findings have important implications for portfolio managers, regulators, and policymakers.

Term spreads and the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from international sovereign bond markets.

We explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the term structure of interest rates. Using data from developed and emerging countries, we demonstrate that the expansion of the disease significantly affects sovereign bond markets. The growth of confirmed cases significantly widens the term spreads of government bonds. The effect is independent of government policy and monetary responses to COVID-19 and robust to many considerations.

Volatility in International Sovereign Bond Markets: The role of government policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective government policies may reduce uncertainty in sovereign bond markets. Can policy responses help to curb bond market volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic? To answer this, we examine data from 31 developed and emerging markets during the coronavirus outbreak in 2020. We demonstrate that government interventions substantially reduce local sovereign bond volatility. The effect is mainly driven by economic support policies; the containment and closure regulations and health system interventions play no major role.

COVID-19, government policy responses, and stock market liquidity around the world: A note.

Unprecedented non-pharmaceutical interventions targeted to curb the spread of COVID-19 exerted a dramatic impact on the global economy and financial markets. This study is the first attempt to investigate the influence of these government policy responses on global stock market liquidity. To this end, we examine daily data from 49 countries for the period January-April 2020. We demonstrate that the impact of the interventions is limited in scale and scope. Workplace and school closures deteriorate liquidity in emerging markets, while information campaigns on the novel coronavirus facilitate trading activity.

Immunizing markets against the pandemic: COVID-19 vaccinations and stock volatility around the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted a noteworthy impact on stock market volatility around the world. Can vaccination programs revert these adverse effects? To answer this question, we scrutinize daily data from 66 countries from January 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021. We provide convincing evidence that COVID-19 vaccination assists in stabilizing the global equity markets. The drop in volatility is robust to many considerations and does not result solely from either the pandemic itself or the government policy responses-the negative correlation remains significant after controlling for these factors. The impact of vaccinations is relatively stronger within developed markets than in emerging ones.

How to survive a pandemic: The corporate resiliency of travel and leisure companies to the COVID-19 outbreak.

What protects travel and leisure companies from a global pandemic, such as COVID-19? To answer this question, we investigate data on over 1200 travel and leisure companies in 52 countries. We consider 80 characteristics, such as company financial ratios, macroeconomic variables, and government policy responses. Using regressions and machine learning tools, we demonstrate that firms with low valuations, limited leverage, and high investments have been more immune to the pandemic-induced crash. We also find a beneficial effect of stringent containment and closure policies. Finally, our results indicate that countries with less individualism may be better positioned to cope with the pandemic. Our findings have implications for regulatory bodies, managers, and investors concerning future pandemic outbreaks.

Infected Markets: Novel Coronavirus, Government Interventions, and Stock Return Volatility around the Globe.

Do government interventions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 affect stock market volatility? To answer this question, we explore the stringency of policy responses to the novel coronavirus pandemic in 67 countries around the world. We demonstrate that non-pharmaceutical interventions significantly increase equity market volatility. The effect is independent from the role of the coronavirus pandemic itself and is robust to many considerations. Furthermore, two types of actions that are usually applied chronologically particularly early-information campaigns and public event cancellations-are the major contributors to the growth of volatility.