Impact of COVID-19 on Stocks - An Empirical Evidence from Vaccine - Developing Pharmaceutical Companies in India and the USA

The world experienced the first global pandemic of the 21st century- COVID-19. The highlights which play a significant role in COVID-19 pandemic include- national/state lockdowns, role of healthcare specialists, essential service providers, relaxations in lockdowns, economic stimulus packages announcements, etc. There is significant literature in regards to the socio-economic conditions globally during a pandemic but each pandemic varies based on intensity of spread, geographic reach, symptoms, etc. A pandemic has significant impact on the global as well as individual country?s economy and its financial markets. The present paper gives the glimpse into the rise of the global pandemic COVID-19 and its growth over the span of 1 year- 2020. This paper presents the case of 2 most affected countries- India and the USA and establishes a cause-and- effect relationship between the increase in COVID-19 cases in the respective countries and the stock prices of vaccine-developing pharmaceutical companies listed in these countries. The paper conducts a least square regression analysis and establishes the hypothesis.