Macroeconomic Variables And Stock Market Returns Essay Example

on these markets. However, the relationship between stock prices and fundamental economic activities in the less developed markets like Ghana has received little attention. The Ghanaian economy has over the last decade witnessed relative macroeconomic stability in terms of GDP growth, significant reduction of interest rates, and stability of the cedi/dollar exchange rate, crude oil price and inflation.

This relative stability has been attributed to the growth of major sectors of the economy including the money markets (financial institutions) and the capital markets (debt and equity). The drop of interest rate following declines in inflation and prime rates has shifted the attention of investors to the stock market as the better means of investments. Evidence from the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) indicates that the relative stability of the interest rates and other macroeconomics variables have been the contributory factor to the growth of the stock markets.

The attention of most investors has been shifted from investing in Treasury bills and other financial instruments which are risk free, as a result of the stability of the interest rate. This has caused the returns on these investments to fall. As a result of this, most investors have shifted their attention to the stock markets and so over the last decade stocks of some listed companies have been oversubscribed. Investing in stocks provides a higher return than the other financial instruments but there are also risks associated with these stocks.

Most investors invest 49 Research Journal of Finance and Accounting www. iiste. org ISSN 2222-1697 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2847 (Online) Vol 2, No 4, 2011 in the stock market with the objectives of maximizing their return without taken into consideration the effect

of macroeconomic variables such as inflation, and exchange rate on the stock prices of companies listed. The relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock returns has been extensively studied and documented in developed capital markets such as USA, Japan, Australia, Canada and European countries.

Notable among them is one by Chen et al. , (1986) on the US stock market, which set the tone for a series of recent studies within the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) framework. Most of these studies relate to US and Japanese stock markets (e. g. , Kaneko and Lee, 1995). Fama (1981) report a positive relationship between stock returns and macroeconomic variables. In spite of increasing migration of capital from developed market to emerging markets and associated high returns, (see Ushad et al. (2008) and Osinubi (2004)) emerging stock markets in developing countries like Ghana have not been well studied.

In 2006 for example, foreign equity accounted for 75. 3% of the equity finance recorded in Ghana compared to 29. 9% in 2001 according to Ghana Investment Promotion Centre quarterly report (December 2007). The growing interest and the performance of emerging markets have been attributed to the conduct of sound macroeconomic policies, privatization, stock market reforms and financial liberalization (Adams and Anokye, 2008).

As African economies attempt to develop their private sectors, it is becoming clear that the growth of the stock markets can serve as an important catalyst for sustainable development and growth. The emerging stock markets in developing countries like Ghana have also attracted world attention as markets of the future with a lot of potential for investors; it has become necessary to extend this type of study to the Ghana stock

market.

This study might also be relevant to private investors, pension funds and governments as many long-term investors base their investment in equities on the assumption that corporate cash flows should grow in line with the economy. Thus the expected return on equities may be linked to expectation on the future economic performance of Ghana. Given the above background, this study seeks to answer the following questions: What is the relationship between the selected macroeconomic variables and the stock market returns? What is the relative effect of macroeconomic variables on the stock market returns?

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns within the APT framework. Investor interest in the stock market is increasing as a result of the current stable economic and political climate prevailing in Ghana. Private sector investment being the engine of growth of our economy is becoming a major part of Ghana’s developmental drive. Both government and private owned companies (e. g. , UT financial services Limited) are converting into public companies and listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

The GSE is becoming the heart of the economy and an institution that provides long term funding to companies in the country. As a result of these developments, understanding how the macroeconomics variables impact the performance of the stock market is very necessary. The study of the impact of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns has become an important exercise in the security market industry. This study is carried out to determine how the stable economic climate has impacted the stock prices of financial and non-financial companies listed on the GSE.

This study, hopefully, would be

the reference point for individuals and institutional investors, policy makers, government agencies and academicians in their investment decision making. From a policy perspective, the empirical relationship established in this study may provide some insights on how the formulation and implementation of appropriate monetary and fiscal policies could help to stabilize the financial market (Abugri, 2008). Companies that intend to go public through listing on the GSE may also use the result of this study to determine the timing of their floatation.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows: section two focuses on the review of existing literature including empirical evidence on the nature of the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns; Section three presents the theoretical framework and methodology; section four presents and discusses the result of the study while section five provides the conclusions. 2. Literature review In an efficient capital market, stock prices rapidly adjust according to the new information available; therefore, the stock prices reflect all information about the stocks.

This means that an investor cannot 50 Research Journal of Finance and Accounting www. iiste. org ISSN 2222-1697 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2847 (Online) Vol 2, No 4, 2011 use the readily provided information to predict the stock prices movements and make profits by trading shares. In short, an efficient market incorporates new information quickly and completely. We also know that the stock prices reflect expectations of the future performances of corporate profit. As a result, if stock prices reflect these assumptions, then they should be used as indicators of economic activities.

So, the dynamic relationship between stock prices and macroeconomic variables can be used to guide a nation’s macroeconomic policies (Maysami et

al. , 2004). Prices of stocks are determined by the net earnings of a company. It depends on how much profit, the company is likely to make in the long run or the near future. If it is reckoned that a company is likely to do well in the years to come, the stock price of the company will rise to reflect the positive expectation. On the other hand, if it is observed from trends that the company may not do well in the long run, the stock prices may decline.

In other words, the prices of stocks are directly proportional to the performance of the company. In the event that inflation increases, the company earnings (worth) will also subside. This will adversely affect the stock prices and eventually the market returns. Under the APT framework, the economic variables which impact future cash flows and required returns of a stock can be expected to influence share prices. A number of studies have investigated the relationship between stock returns and the state of the economy and several economic variables are found to be associated with the risk-return of stock (Gangemi et al, 2000).

Notable among these studies is the one by Chen et al. , (1986) on the US stock market. The study set the tone for a series of recent studies using the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) framework. They studied the impact of economic forces on stock returns using APT. They revealed that variables such as interest rates, inflation rate, exchange rate, bond yield and industrial production have major impacts on the stock market. Chatrath et al. , (1997) examine the relationship between inflation and stock prices

of India stocks. He found a negative relationship between stock return and inflation.

Zhao (1999) finds a strong relationship between inflation and stock prices of China stocks. Omran and Pointon (2001) studied the how the inflation rate affect the performance of the market of Egypt and they found a negative relationship between them. Contrary to these studies, Choudhry (2000) finds a positive relationship between stock returns and inflation in four high inflation countries. Maysami et al. , (2004) find a positive relationship between inflation rate and stock returns. This is contrary to other studies that suggest a negative relationship.

The reason given by the authors is the active role of government in preventing price escalation after the economy continued to progress after the 1997 financial crises. Mohamed et al. , (2007) studied the effect of macroeconomic variables on stock prices in Malaysia using error correctional model. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between inflation rate and stock price. This is in line with other studies conducted on the Malaysian equity market for the period before economic crisis (i. e. , Ibrahim and Yussof (1999), Ibrahim and Aziz (2003)).

Engsted and Tanggaard (2002) find a moderately positive relationship between expected stock returns and expected inflation for the US and a strong positive relation for Denmark. According to the “Fisher effect” expected nominal rates of interest on financial assets should move one-to-one with expected inflation (Fisher, 1930). Moreover, changes in both short-term and long-term rates are expected to affect the discount rate in the same direction through their effect on the nominal risk-free rate (Mukherjee and Naka, 1995).

Therefore interest rates are expected to be negatively related to

market returns either through the inflationary or discount factor effect (Abugri, 2008). Some previous studies have reported that it is not interest rate itself that is relevant but the yield and default spreads that are more likely to influence equity returns (eg. , Chen et al. , 1986). However, the continued use of interest rates may be attributed to the absence of active secondary markets for bonds issues and government paper in many emerging markets (Bilson et al. 2001).

An increase in interest rate would increase the required rate of return and the Stock return would decrease with the increase in the interest rate. An increase rate would raise the opportunity costs of holding cash, and the trade off to holding other interest bearing securities would lead to a decrease in share price. Theoretically, French et al. , (1987) found negative relationship between stock returns and both long-term and short-term interest rate.

Furthermore, Bulmash and Trivoli (1991) found that the US current stock price is positively correlated with the previous month’s stock price, money supply, recent federal debt, recent tax-exempt government debt, long-term unemployment, the broad money supply and the federal rate. However, 51 Research Journal of Finance and Accounting www. iiste. org ISSN 2222-1697 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2847 (Online) Vol 2, No 4, 2011 there was a negative relationship between stock prices and the Treasury bill rate, the intermediate lagged Treasury bond rate, the longer lagged federal debt, and the recent monetary base.

Abdullah and Hayworth (1983) find that stock returns are positively related with the money growth and inflation rate while interest rate reacts negatively on stock returns. The link between exchange rates and equity returns is

based on a simple financial theory. Exchange rate as an indicator of a currency as a monetary variable that affect the prices of stock in a way similar to inflation variables. When the domestic currency depreciates against foreign currencies, export product prices will decrease and, consequently, the volume of the country’s export will increase, assuming that the demand for this product is elastic.

The appreciation of a country’s currency lowers the cost of imported goods, which in most cases constitute a large part of the production inputs for emerging market countries. According to Pebbles and Wilson (1996), an appreciating currency is generally accompanied by increases in reserves, money supply and a decline in interest rates. The resulting decline in cost of capital and/or imported inputs is expected to lead to an increase in local return. Such an expectation is also consistent with Bilson et al. , (2001) conclusion that a devaluation of the domestic currency has a negative relationship with return.

Mukherjee and Naka (1995) also confirmed that exchange rate positively relates to Japan and Indonesia stock prices, both two large export countries. Solnik (1987) employs monthly and quarterly data for eight industrial countries from 1973-1983 to examine the relation between real stock returns, exchange rates and reports a negative relation among variables. Employing monthly data, Aggarwal (1981) examines the relationship between stock market indexes and a trade weighted value of the dollar for the period 1974-1978 and finds that the stock prices and exchange rates are positively correlated.

In contrast, Soenen and Hernigar (1988) also using monthly data, report a strong negative relation between US stock indexes and fifteen currency weighted value of the dollar for the

period 1980-1986. Bilson et al. , (2001) tested whether local macroeconomic variables (money, goods prices and real activity) have explanatory power over stock return of 20 exchange emerging markets for the period 1985-1997. The results indicate that the exchange rate variable is clearly the most influential macroeconomic variables.

Gazi and Hisham (2010) studied the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns in the Jordian Stock Market. Using cointegration analysis, they find that the trade surplus, foreign exchange reserves, the money supply and oil prices are important macroeconomic variables which have long run effects on the Jordanian stock market. There is a negative relationship between crude oil price and stock market returns. This is also expected as increase in the price of oil will depress real economic activity, so a negative sign is justified. Interest rate does not affect the stock market.

Anokye and Tweneboah (2008) examined the role of macroeconomic variables on stock returns movement in Ghana. They used the Databank stock index to represent Ghana Stock market and the macroeconomic variables are; inward foreign direct investment, Treasury bill rate (as a measure of interest rate), consumer price index (as a measure of inflation) and exchange rate. They analyze both long-run and short-run relationships between the stock market index and the economic variables with quarterly data for the above variables from 1991 to 2006 using Johansen’s multivariate cointegration test and innovation accounting techniques.

They established that there is cointegration between macroeconomic variables identified and stock prices in Ghana indicating long run relationship. Result of impulse Response Function (IRF) and Forecast Error Variance decomposition (FEVD) indicate that interest rate and foreign Direct Investment (FDI) are the key determinants

of the share price movements in Ghana.

Theoretical framework and methodology

Theoretical framework The relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock returns have been extensively studied and debated. This relationship is well illustrated by Miller and Modigliani (1961) Dividend Discount Model (DDM) than any other theoretical stock valuation model. According to the Dividend Discount Model, the current price of a stock is equal to the present value of all future cash flows to the equity.

It has become the most important model of the relationship between risk and return in asset pricing. This was celebrated by the works of Black, et al. , (1972) and Fama and Macbeth (1973). CAPM has its basis in the construction of an efficient market portfolio that maximizes return, given a level of risk. The expected return of an individual security is a function of its risk covariance with the market. The model stipulates that the expected return on a stock is determined by the risk free interest rate and a risk premium which is a function of the stock’s responsiveness to the overall movement in the market that is its beta coefficient.

It measures the volatility. Early empirical tests of the model generally supported its main predictions as beta being the only explanatory factor in explaining the cross sectional variation across stock portfolios. However, more recent empirical works on asset pricing has identified a number of variables that help explain cross sectional variation in stock returns in addition to the market risk variable. Roll (1977) argued that the market portfolio should in theory include all types of assets that are held by anyone as an investment including works of arts, real estate, human capital

etc. but said, in practice, such a market portfolio is unobservable and people usually substitute stock index as a proxy for the true market portfolio.

Unfortunately, it has been shown that this substitution is not innocuous and can lead to false inferences as to the validity of the CAPM. It has been said that due to the inobservability of the true market portfolio, the CAPM might not be empirically testable. This is referred to as Roll’s critique.

It is a multi-factor model in which every investor believes that the stochastic properties of returns of capital assets are consistent with factors structure. Ross (1976) argues that if equilibrium prices offer no arbitrage opportunities over static portfolio of assets, then the expected returns on the assets are approximately linearly related to the factor loadings or beta. In other words, the expected returns of a financial asset can be modeled as a linear function of various macroeconomic variables or theoretical market indices, where the sensitivity to change in each factor is represented by a factor – specific beta coefficient.

The model-derived rate of return will then be used to price the asset correctly and the asset price should equal the expected end of period price discounted at the rate r, implied by the model. If the price diverges, arbitrage should bring it back into line.  The empirical analysis is carried out using monthly data. The data period spans from January 1992 to December 2008 and the study was carried out using 204 monthly observations. The study employed GSE All Share Index (ASI) as a proxy for Ghana stock market returns. The macroeconomic variables are obtained in monthly intervals from the Central

Bank of Ghana (BoG) and Ghana Statistical Services (GSS).

The macroeconomic variables are nominal interbank exchange rate (EXR), 91-day Treasury bill (T-bill) yield to proxy for Interest rate (TBR), crude oil price (CRO) and consumer price index to proxy for inflation (CPI). The data for the study are monthly from 1992 to 2008. All the macroeconomic data were obtained from the Central Bank of Ghana except the consumer price index which was obtained from the Ghana Statistical Services. The GSE All share Index was obtained from Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). The brief description for each variable used is presented in the Table 1 below.

In order to smooth the data all variables were converted to natural logarithm. The use of natural logarithm, rather than levels and percentage changes, mitigates correlations among the variables. Also, it helps in reducing heteroscedasticity as it compresses the scale in which variables are being measured. Selecting variables in similar studies is usually subject to criticism on the grounds of subjectivity. Fama (1981) has argued that such criticism is an unavoidable problem associated with this area of research. This study bases its selection of variables on theoretical propositions and evidence in the literature.

Four macroeconomic variables, namely, inflation (measured by the Consumer Price Index), 91-day Treasury bill rate used as proxy for interest rate and nominal inter-bank exchange rate (measured by the US$/GH? and crude oil price (US$ per barrel) have been selected as critical variables for this research. ) Our selection is influenced by the various works that have been carried out and reviewed in the literature about their relationships with stock returns, in other economies like US, Japan, Sri Lanka, India, Jordan,

Pakistan and UK.

Table 1: Data Description and Source Variable Concept Description LASI Natural logarithm of Ghana Stock Exchange Index Natural logarithm of consumer price index Natural logarithm of exchange rate Natural logarithm of 91-day Treasury bill rate Natural logarithm of crude oil price Ghana Stock Exchange All Share Index Consumer Price Index Principal rate (Gh? per US Dollar) 91-day Treasury bill rate Crude Oil Price Units 1990 = 77. 65points Source GSE LCPI Percentage per month GH? per US$ Percentage per month US$ per barrel GSS

Inflation is measured by changes in the Ghana Consumer Price Index (GCPI) which was collected from the Ghana Statistical Services database. High rate of inflation increase the cost of living and a shift of resources from investments to consumption. This leads to a fall in demand for market instruments which lead to reduction in the volume of stock traded.

Also the monetary policy responds to the increase in the rate of inflation with economic tightening policies, which in turn increases the nominal risk – free rate and hence raises the discount rate model. High Inflation affects corporate profits, which in turn causes dividends to diminish. Consequently decreases in expected return of stocks cause stocks to depreciate in value. Conversely, low inflation implies lower cost of borrowing. Corporate performance goes up leading to increase in production and corporate profit. This results in the payment of attractive dividends by companies.

The monthly inflation was computed as the natural logarithm of consumer price index at month t. Interest Rate The 91-Day Treasury bill rate is used as proxy for interest rate since Treasury bill serves as the opportunity cost of holding shares and as a

benchmark for measuring interest rate. Chen et al. , (1986), Beenstock and Chan (1988), Fifield et al. , (2002), provide evidence on the relationship between interest rates and stock returns. High interest rate regimes lead to high cost of borrowing and hence a reduction in economic activity.

This also affects corporate profit, future cash flow of business and dividend. According to the “Fisher effect”, expected nominal rate of interest on financial assets should move one-to-one with inflation (Fisher, 1930). Moreover, changes in both short term and long-term rates are expected to affect the discount rate in the same direction through their effect on the nominal risk-free rate (Mukherjee & Naka, 1995). Therefore interest rates are expected to be negatively related to market returns either through the inflationary or discount factor effect.

However, the continued use of interest rates may be attributed to the absence of active secondary markets for bond issues and government paper in many emerging markets (Bilson et al. , 2001). The interest rate is calculated as natural logarithms of three month T-bill rate at month t. Exchange Rate In recent year, all businesses are directly and indirectly affected by international activities as a result of globalization. In other words, exchange rate changes may affect the competitive position of companies and hence industries operations.

As a result, cost of goods and services, sales and cash flows may change with changes in exchange rate. Ozcam (1997) and Altay (2003) revealed that exchange rates influence stock returns. In Ghana the cedi-dollar exchange rate is important in assessing the stock market because, being the major international trading currency, any hike is translated in the cost of importing raw material,

and other imports. Since Ghana’s economy is also import-demand driven, changes in the exchange rate affects most sectors of the economy as well as the pricing of goods and cost of production.

The exchange rate therefore affects business cash flow and profitability. Investors may also evaluate this as an important risk factor. According to Pebbles and Wilson (1996), an appreciating currency is generally accompanied by increases in reserves, money supply and a decline in interest rates. The resulting decline in cost of capital and/or imported inputs is expected to lead to an increase in local returns. Such an expectation is consistent with Bilson et al. , (2001) conclusion that a devaluation of the domestic currency has a negative relationship with returns.

The change in exchange rate is calculated as the natural logarithms of the exchange rate at month t. GSE All Share Index The study included the GSE All Share index to proxy the state of Ghana Stock Market. GSE All Share Index which is the broad market indicator of the stock market measures the overall performance of the stock market. This index is computed by the Ghana Stock Exchange. The GSE All share index is calculated as natural logarithms of GSE All share index at month t. Crude Oil Price Crude oil is an essential input for production and so the price of oil is included as a proxy for real economic activity. An increase in the price of oil in the international market means lower real economic activity in all sectors, which will cause stock returns to fall.

Also the sum squared deviation row represents the net change over the sample period. It shows that the

exchange rate declined by about 217%. In terms of skewness, GSE All share Index and crude oil prices have return distribution that are positively skewed. Consumer Price Index, exchange rate and 91 day Treasury bill rate exhibit a negative skewness which implies that they have a long left tail. All the variables are relatively normally distributed as indicated by the p values of Jarque Bera statistic.

The second approach is one in which a researcher starts at the estimated covariance matrix of asset returns and uses his judgment to choose factors and subsequently estimate the matrix ?. The third approach is purely judgmental in that it is one in which the researcher primarily uses his intuition to pick factors and then estimates the factor loadings and checks whether they explain the cross-sectional variations in estimated expected returns. Chen et al. (1986) select financial and macroeconomic variables to serve as factors.

The focus of the study is investigating the effect of macroeconomic variables on stock returns. The expected return on a stock is assumed to be generated by its exposure to macroeconomic risk sources. A system estimation approach (Full Information Maximum Likelihood Estimation Procedure) is used to examine the effects of four macroeconomic variables on the stock portfolio returns.

This is so because investors see treasury bills as alternative assets to stocks and would switch to the Treasury bill if the rate of returns from the GSE is lower. This requires instituting prudent measures that will bring about cost minimization and increase productivity for the listed companies. Once operational expenses are less, all other things being equal, more in terms of returns on equity can be given to the

shareholders. The listed firms should strive to make their stocks attractive to investors as the firms stocks seem to be a good hedge over a long period for investors.

This means the firms should undertake projects that are viable to boost their performance over time, as investors are motivated to invest in companies with good financial performance. Once it is realized by investors that listed firms have a superior performance coupled with the fact that returns on their shares increases as inflation goes up, the shares may be preferred assets when investors have to hedge against the risk of inflation. The effect of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns has attracted much attention in developed and emerging economies due to their implications in the financial markets.

Investors may use this study as a guide in forecasting stock market viability and to decide whether it is worthwhile to invest in it. At the policy level, this study may provide some insights on how the formulation and implementation of appropriate monetary and fiscal policies could help to stabilize the financial market. Furthermore, financial sector reform and the institution of a regulatory regime for the listed companies and the Ghana Stock Exchange will also be important. Furthermore, although a rich set of macroeconomic variables are used in this study; the macroeconomic variable set employed is not exhaustive.

Some other macroeconomic variables would provide more information about the stock return - economic activity relationship. Finally, a more robust and super-consistent estimates of the effects of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns could be obtained by employing the Vector Error Correction and Cointegration Analysis. This methodology provides both the short run and long

run estimates of the effects of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns. This provides another avenue for future research.