The impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the stock market: evidence from Indian consumer food sector

This study examined the effect of the Russia-Ukraine war on the stock prices of Indian consumer food sector companies. The daily closing prices of stocks of 71 sampled companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India in the consumer food sector were collected from ProwessIQ database. The event study methodology was applied to analyse the data. The findings showed that the Military invasion by Russia in Ukraine jolted the stock prices in the Indian consumer food sector, suggesting that investors in these companies were sensitive to the war. It was observed that average abnormal returns were significant and negative during the pre-invasion period and on the event day when military conflict began. However, the negative reaction of stock prices mostly disappeared post-invasion. The cumulative effect was negative during the whole event window, and positive returns earned during the post-invasion period were insufficient to mitigate the negative impact of conflict.