The Covid -19 Pandemic And Herding Bahavior: Evidence From Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange

Abstract

This study is to examine the impact of herding behavior among investors on sector indices in Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE). This study’s contribution is to analyze herding behavior in the period before, during, and following the COVID-19 epidemic. The dataset includes daily closing values of 229 companies' stocks from January 1, 2016, to December 20, 22, the data is available. I employ Chang et al (2000)’ model to evaluate herd formation. It is found that the entire sample, the peak epidemic, and the period following COVID-19 demonstrate that herding behavior exists in every industry. The consumer (CONS) and healthcare (HEAL) sectors exhibit substantial herding behavior during the peak of the pandemic. All sectors, but utilities (UTI) sector, did not, however, exhibit statistically significant herding tendencies prior to COVID-19. Furthermore, prior to and throughout the COVID-19 epidemic, the evidence of herding behavior under bull and bear settings.