Commodity price volatility and stock market returns in an emerging economy

Abstract

The paper examined commodity price volatility and stock returns on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Utilising Threshold Generalised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (TGARCH) estimation technique, the study also evaluated the likely leverage effect on the stock market and further interrogated if autocorrelation existed in the daily stock returns series, for how many days and on what day does it disappear by specifying an autoregressive model as a mean equation. The study concludes that changes in commodity prices and their volatilities on the international market exert a significant level of diverse impact on daily stock returns and return volatility on the GSE. For instance, whilst coffee price changes result in reduction in daily stock returns, changes in crude and gold prices result in an increment in returns on the GSE. The study also confirms the existence of autocorrelation in the daily stock returns for up to seven days, fading out on the eighth day as well as the existence of the leverage effect on the GSE. This result should influence investment decisions in respect to trading on the GSE. Observance of changes in price of these key commodities could enhance predictions and lead to the formulation of strategies to maximise revenues on the GSE 1