Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market

Between January 2011 and April 2021, we investigate whether investor sentiment can influence stock returns and volatility in the Chinese A-share market. We also analyse the impact of rational and irrational sentiment on the stock market and the strength of the impact separately. This study uses fiv...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wang, Jiaying
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2021
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/66530/
_version_ 1848800334855536640
author Wang, Jiaying
author_facet Wang, Jiaying
author_sort Wang, Jiaying
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Between January 2011 and April 2021, we investigate whether investor sentiment can influence stock returns and volatility in the Chinese A-share market. We also analyse the impact of rational and irrational sentiment on the stock market and the strength of the impact separately. This study uses five fundamentals and AR(1) regressions on investor sentiment, capturing partly rational sentiment and partly irrational sentiment in the residuals. The fundamentals are economic growth, inflation, interest rates, RMB/USD exchange rate and terms of trade. The time horizon is one month. The dissertation then uses a VAR model and a generalised impulse function to examine the impact of rational and irrational sentiment on the returns and volatility of the Chinese A-share market. We find that both rational and irrational sentiments are significant in the Chinese A-share market. Irrational sentiment accounts for more than 70%, much larger than the share of rational sentiment. The study shows that investors' rational and irrational beliefs are positively correlated with stock returns. When each of the two sentiments is subjected to a standard deviation shock, the path adjustments of China A-share returns are 36% and 10%, respectively. Thus rational sentiment has a more significant impact on stock returns. Moreover, the effect of irrational sentiment on stock returns does not appear until four steps later. This effect is therefore lagged. In examining the impact of investor sentiment on equity volatility, we find that only rational sentiment had a significant negative impact on equity volatility. The impact is -1%. Irrational sentiment has no material impact on equity volatility. Finally, our research may provide valuable insights for investors as they look for better investment opportunities to generate higher returns. In addition, policymakers can stimulate the stock market and reduce uncertainty by adjusting the economic environment.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T20:49:55Z
format Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-66530
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T20:49:55Z
publishDate 2021
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-665302023-04-25T11:48:44Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/66530/ Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market Wang, Jiaying Between January 2011 and April 2021, we investigate whether investor sentiment can influence stock returns and volatility in the Chinese A-share market. We also analyse the impact of rational and irrational sentiment on the stock market and the strength of the impact separately. This study uses five fundamentals and AR(1) regressions on investor sentiment, capturing partly rational sentiment and partly irrational sentiment in the residuals. The fundamentals are economic growth, inflation, interest rates, RMB/USD exchange rate and terms of trade. The time horizon is one month. The dissertation then uses a VAR model and a generalised impulse function to examine the impact of rational and irrational sentiment on the returns and volatility of the Chinese A-share market. We find that both rational and irrational sentiments are significant in the Chinese A-share market. Irrational sentiment accounts for more than 70%, much larger than the share of rational sentiment. The study shows that investors' rational and irrational beliefs are positively correlated with stock returns. When each of the two sentiments is subjected to a standard deviation shock, the path adjustments of China A-share returns are 36% and 10%, respectively. Thus rational sentiment has a more significant impact on stock returns. Moreover, the effect of irrational sentiment on stock returns does not appear until four steps later. This effect is therefore lagged. In examining the impact of investor sentiment on equity volatility, we find that only rational sentiment had a significant negative impact on equity volatility. The impact is -1%. Irrational sentiment has no material impact on equity volatility. Finally, our research may provide valuable insights for investors as they look for better investment opportunities to generate higher returns. In addition, policymakers can stimulate the stock market and reduce uncertainty by adjusting the economic environment. 2021-12-01 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/66530/1/20246798_BUSI4020_2021.pdf Wang, Jiaying (2021) Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
spellingShingle Wang, Jiaying
Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market
title Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market
title_full Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market
title_fullStr Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market
title_full_unstemmed Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market
title_short Investor Sentiment, Stock Returns, and Volatility in China's A-share Market
title_sort investor sentiment, stock returns, and volatility in china's a-share market
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/66530/