The impact of Covid-19 on international financial markets: winners and losers

Abstract

The pandemic caused by the SARS-Cov-2 (Covid-19) virus has triggered a worldwide impact on the economy that has been firstly reflected in the financial markets‘ performance. As a consequence of this global health emergency, the world economy is going to deal with its greatest threat since the 2008 Financial Crisis. However, the collapse and recovery of countries and industries are likely to be divergent. This paper aims to provide a global picture of different stock exchange indexes’ progress, including SP 500, Eurostoxx 50, IBEX 35 and CSI 300. In addition, components‘ performance of the Eurostoxx 50 have been analyzed in order to gather more specific information regarding the Covid-19 impact in different industries. Results have revealed that recovery in some of the stock markets are due to large corporation’s resilience and some winning sectors. As a result, the economic recovery is taking the form of a "K".