STOCK MARKET LINKAGES AND CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS: EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF EM7 ECONOMIES

Diffusion of information in the present era has become very fast, whether it is related to natural phenomena or human activities. Due to the technological advancement and fast face globalisation and liberalisation, events happening in financial markets are no exception, especially due to electronic stock exchanges and free flow of capital and financial information across borders. The present study aims to examine return patterns and find inter linkages/integration among the stock markets of seven largest emerging economies popularly known as EM7 (India, China, Russia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey) by examining the monthly return data from Jan 2010 to Dec 2019. The study used descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis and causality test to attain its objectives. The results indicate that EM7 stock markets are not interlinked, suggesting markets are quite segmented and there is scope for fund managers and both international and domestic investors to reap the advantages of portfolio diversification and mitigate the risks associated with their investments.