A Comparative Analysis of Nordic and Major European Equity Markets in the Wake of Covid-19: examining volatility, performance, and investor sentiment amidst the crisis

Abstract

Covid-19 impacts on Nordics and Major European stocks markets has been analysed. The selected indexes OMXH25, OMXS30, Nordic 40, DAX20 and FTSE100 OMXC 30 has been used to calculate their risk-return performance. The data for the analysis has been collected from the Euronext and Nasdaq website. Furthermore, the descriptive analysis and correlation calculations has been made using SPSS and Excel. The basic calculations were made on excel while SPSS was used for calculating the correlation, because of larger data volume. Various base theories were discussed such as Risk-return, CAPM, Portfolio and Arbitrage Pricing Theory. Countries like Finland, Denmark, Uk were the countries to implement strict rules during the pandemic while, Sweden approach to Covid-19 was debatable at first.

Finally, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the Nordic and Major European markets, and the index performance were seen better before Covid than during and after Covid-19. The hypothesis presented has been supported by the results. However, the time frame was limited and different factors affecting equity markets were not considered which was a limitation.