A Note on COVID-19 Instigated Maximum Drawdown in Islamic Markets versus Conventional Counterparts

Hassan, M. Kabir Chowdhury Md Iftekhar Hasan Balli Faruk Hasan Rashedul

This study uncovers the impact of the COVID-19 on the Islamic equity markets compared to their conventional counterparts. The extremely large-scale drawdown across the markets signifies an indiscriminate impact. To some extent, Asian Islamic markets show relative resilience to their counterparts. Both Islamic and non-Islamic Asian markets signpost a quicker recovery than the rest of the regions, the Middle East & Africa, Europe, and America. It appears that a higher return leads to a smaller maximum drawdown, while higher volatility leads to a larger maximum drawdown. Despite the large-scale drawdown, a number of markets secure a positive return where Islamic markets outperform the counterparts. Conventional markets respond to the COVID-19 aftershock homogenously as a result of their high interlinkages. Collectively, these results reinforce the view that in the crisis period, Islamic markets are more resilient.