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Piety and Profits: Stock Market Anomaly during the Muslim Holy Month

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Abstract

Observed by more than 1.5 billion Muslims, Ramadan is one of the most celebrated religious rituals in the world. We investigate stock returns during Ramadan for 14 predominantly Muslim countries over the years 1989-2007. The results show that stock returns during Ramadan are almost nine times higher and less volatile than during the rest of the year. No discernible difference in trading volume is recorded. We find these results consistent with a notion that Ramadan positively affects investor psychology, as it promotes feelings of solidarity and social identity among Muslims world-wide, leading to optimistic beliefs that extend to investment decisions.

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  • Jędrzej Białkowski & Ahmad Etebari & Tomasz Piotr Wisniewski, 2010. "Piety and Profits: Stock Market Anomaly during the Muslim Holy Month," Working Papers in Economics 10/52, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbt:econwp:10/52
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    1. Ariel, Robert A, 1990. "High Stock Returns before Holidays: Existence and Evidence on Possible Causes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(5), pages 1611-1626, December.
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    1. Baele, L. & Farooq, M. & Ongena, S., 2012. "Of Religion and Redemption : Evidence from Default on Islamic Loans (Replaces CentER DP 2010-136)," Other publications TiSEM 44a4a19c-3959-4e99-b96b-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Baele, Lieven & Farooq, Moazzam & Ongena, Steven, 2014. "Of religion and redemption: Evidence from default on Islamic loans," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 141-159.
    3. Baele, L. & Farooq, M. & Ongena, S., 2012. "Of Religion and Redemption : Evidence from Default on Islamic Loans (Replaces EBC DP 2010-032)," Other publications TiSEM a4c6f21b-b35f-4fec-94cc-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Elisabete F. Simões Vieira, 2012. "Investor sentiment and market reaction: evidence on 2010 FIFA World Cup," International Journal of Economics and Accounting, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 51-76.
    5. Hasbullah, Faruq & Masih, Mansur, 2016. "Fast profits in a fasting month? A markov regime switching approach in search of ramadan effect on stock markets," MPRA Paper 72149, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Bogdan Batrinca & Christian W. Hesse & Philip C. Treleaven, 2018. "European trading volumes on cross‐market holidays," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(4), pages 675-704, October.
    7. Białkowski, Jędrzej & Bohl, Martin T. & Kaufmann, Philipp & Wisniewski, Tomasz P., 2013. "Do mutual fund managers exploit the Ramadan anomaly? Evidence from Turkey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 211-232.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ramadan Effect; Behavioral Finance; Market Efficiency; Religion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading

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