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Relief Rallies after FOMC Announcements as a Resolution of Uncertainty

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  • Gu, Chen
  • Kurov, Alexander
  • Wolfe, Marketa Halova

Abstract

We find substantial positive average stock returns after FOMC announcements accompanied by the release of the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) and press conference by the Fed Chair. Both SEPs and press conferences contain new information that moves financial markets. We show that several measures of uncertainty are significantly higher on days of FOMC announcements accompanied by SEP and press conference than on announcement days without SEP and press conference. Controlling for changes in uncertainty measured by VIX changes, the positive unconditional mean returns after the FOMC announcements with SEP and press conference disappear. We also find that stocks correlated with market uncertainty shocks have higher returns on days of FOMC meetings with SEP and press conference. These results suggest that the positive post-announcement stock market returns are related to resolution of uncertainty.

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  • Gu, Chen & Kurov, Alexander & Wolfe, Marketa Halova, 2018. "Relief Rallies after FOMC Announcements as a Resolution of Uncertainty," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-18.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:49:y:2018:i:c:p:1-18
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2018.08.003
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    Cited by:

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    2. Michael D Bauer & Aeimit Lakdawala & Philippe Mueller, 2022. "Market-Based Monetary Policy Uncertainty," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(644), pages 1290-1308.
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    6. Benchimol, Jonathan & Saadon, Yossi & Segev, Nimrod, 2023. "Stock market reactions to monetary policy surprises under uncertainty," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    7. Kurov, Alexander & Wolfe, Marketa Halova & Gilbert, Thomas, 2021. "The disappearing pre-FOMC announcement drift," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    8. Smales, L.A., 2021. "Macroeconomic news and treasury futures return volatility: Do treasury auctions matter?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Summary of economic projections; Monetary policy; FOMC meetings; Communication; Stock returns; Uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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