Stock Return Comovement When Investors are Distracted: More, and More Homogeneous

31 Pages Posted: 8 May 2020 Last revised: 18 May 2020

See all articles by Michael Ehrmann

Michael Ehrmann

European Central Bank (ECB); Bank of Canada

David-Jan Jansen

De Nederlandsche Bank ; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics; Tinbergen Institute

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: May 2020

Abstract

This paper tests whether fluctuations in investors' attention affect stock return comovement with national and global markets, and which stocks are most affected. We measure fluctuations in investor attention using 59 high-profile soccer matches played during stock market trading hours at the three editions of the FIFA World Cup between 2010 and 2018. Using intraday data for more than 750 firms in 19 countries, we find that distracted investors shift attention away from firm-specific and from global news. When movements in global stock markets are large, the pricing of global news reverts back to normal, but firm-specific news keep being priced less, leading to increased comovement of stock returns with the national stock market. This increase is economically large, and particularly strong for those stocks that typically comove little with the national market, thereby leading to a convergence in betas across stocks.

Keywords: comovement, investor attention, Stock returns

JEL Classification: G12, G15, G41

Suggested Citation

Ehrmann, Michael and Jansen, David-Jan, Stock Return Comovement When Investors are Distracted: More, and More Homogeneous (May 2020). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP14713, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3594348

Michael Ehrmann (Contact Author)

European Central Bank (ECB) ( email )

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Bank of Canada ( email )

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David-Jan Jansen

De Nederlandsche Bank ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/djansenresearch

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics ( email )

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Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

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