Oil Price Shocks and Stock Markets in Oil Importing Countries: Evidence from Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the dynamic relationship between Oil price Shocks and stock markets returns in Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan as oil-importing countries in the MENA region, over the period (2005-2018). Vector auto regressive regressions (VAR), Granger causality tests, and Impulse Response technique are employed to achieve the objectives of the study. Using weekly data, the results point to a causal relation flowing from oil prices to stock market returns in all the three countries under investigation although with different lags and different patterns of the response according to the impulse response function outcomes. These findings have important implications for academics, domestic and international investor, investment manager and policy makers.