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Machine learning sentiment analysis, COVID-19 news and stock market reactions

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  • Costola, Michele
  • Hinz, Oliver
  • Nofer, Michael
  • Pelizzon, Loriana

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented worldwide event to study the influence of related news on the financial markets, especially during the early stage of the pandemic when information on the new threat came rapidly and was complex for investors to process. In this paper, we investigate whether the flow of news on COVID-19 had an impact on forming market expectations. We analyze 203,886 online articles dealing with COVID-19 and published on three news platforms (MarketWatch.com, NYTimes.com, and Reuters.com) in the period from January to June 2020. Using machine learning techniques, we extract the news sentiment through a financial market-adapted BERT model that enables recognizing the context of each word in a given item. Our results show that there is a statistically significant and positive relationship between sentiment scores and S&P 500 market. Furthermore, we provide evidence that sentiment components and news categories on NYTimes.com were differently related to market returns.

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  • Costola, Michele & Hinz, Oliver & Nofer, Michael & Pelizzon, Loriana, 2023. "Machine learning sentiment analysis, COVID-19 news and stock market reactions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:64:y:2023:i:c:s0275531923000077
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2023.101881
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    6. Ahelegbey, Daniel Felix & Cerchiello, Paola & Scaramozzino, Roberta, 2022. "Network based evidence of the financial impact of Covid-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Cai, Yi & Tang, Zhenpeng & Chen, Ying, 2024. "Can real-time investor sentiment help predict the high-frequency stock returns? Evidence from a mixed-frequency-rolling decomposition forecasting method," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Marcus Vinicius Santos & Fernando Morgado-Dias & Thiago C. Silva, 2023. "Oil Sector and Sentiment Analysis—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-29, June.
    9. Wang, Lu & Guan, Li & Ding, Qian & Zhang, Hongwei, 2023. "Asymmetric impact of COVID-19 news on the connectedness of the green energy, dirty energy, and non-ferrous metal markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    10. Thavavel Vaiyapuri & Sharath Kumar Jagannathan & Mohammed Altaf Ahmed & K. C. Ramya & Gyanendra Prasad Joshi & Soojeong Lee & Gangseong Lee, 2023. "Sustainable Artificial Intelligence-Based Twitter Sentiment Analysis on COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-15, April.
    11. Szczygielski, Jan Jakub & Charteris, Ailie & Bwanya, Princess Rutendo & Brzeszczyński, Janusz, 2023. "Which COVID-19 information really impacts stock markets?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19 news; Sentiment analysis; Stock markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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