COVID-19 and Seasonality in Monthly Returns: a Firm Level Analysis of PSX

The current study scrutinizes the calendar anomalies in the context of the local market by analyzing the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). For this purpose, closing prices of KSE-100, KSE-30 and KSE-All share Index from January, 2009 to June, 2021 have been used as well as a thorough individual firm level analysis is done, taking average log-returns of selected sample firms returns using OLS regression, general GARCH (1,1), asymmetric TGARCH and PGARCH models. The results indicate monthly seasonality, with significant April, July, and September effect in PSX indices returns. The findings of the study reveal that weak form inefficiency exists in Pakistan Stock Market, which implies the possibility of earning abnormal returns by investors using timing strategies. Due to global pandemic conditions, investor psychology investors turned circumspect. Consequently, the individual firms’ trading has also reduced.