How Does Investors' Attention Influence Equity Trading and Performance? Evidence from Listed Indian Companies

[Purpose] The present study investigates the impact of investors’ attention on both equity performance and trading. Besides, it also investigates the corporate affairs that attract more investors to a company. [Design/methodology/approach] The study uses a sample of 60,200 weekly observations of the companies from FY2014 to FY2022 (till November 2022) to assess the impact of investors’ attention on both stock performance and trading. [Findings] The study finds that investors’ attention is positively linked to stock performance. However, this link disappears shortly. On the other hand, the Volume has a positive relationship with the number of trades that do not change subsequently, but its ability to predict the future gets worse over time. The study further finds that some companies’ events have fuelled investors’ interest. [Practical implications] The Google Index could potentially be referred to show investors' interest. Further, AGTI is able to forecast a short-term shift in equity performance, which can result in short-term profits or help investors escape from getting short-term losses from their investments. Lastly, particularly corporate events can herald a shift in AGTI, and hence, in investors' interest. [Originality/Value] The majority of earlier research has evaluated attention indirectly, using headlines and sensationalism, commercials, and upper and lower price limits. The present study, on the other hand, assesses investors' interest by using a simple and direct metric: the cumulative searching rate in a search engine, the data of which is provided by Google.