Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of macroeconomic factors on the stock return volatility and volatility dynamics on comparative bases for Islamic vs. Conventional Banks.
Methodology:The stock returns volatility of all the Pakistani listed banks from Islamic and Conventional sectors is considered for the period from Jan 1, 2010, to Dec 31, 2021. A time-series model GARCH(1,1) is applied for the relationship between stock returns volatility along with its various dynamics and economic fundamentals. Findings: All the macroeconomic factors prove their significance in finding the stock return volatility in both Islamic and Conventional banking systems. The market return shows a negative association with stock return volatility in both Islamic and Conventional Banks. For most of the Conventional and Islamic banks, the risk-free rate shows positive and negative effects, respectively. Finally, the exchange rate and oil prices show a negative impact on both Islamic and Conventional banks. The volatility shocks are quite persistent. Both the ARCH and GARCH effects play their role in generating conditional future stock return volatility. Moreover, the overall volatility process is mean-reverting; nonetheless, the speed of mean reversion varies across both sectors. Significance: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that compares the Conventional and Islamic banks' stock volatility with regard to the economic fundamentals in Pakistan. Practical Implication: The results designate that there are significant dissimilarities (even carrying opposing or negative correlation) in both sectors; hence, the investors may diversify their investment and form their liquidity positions in both sectors to attain the maximum advantages from the market and bank's specific factors.