The Impact of Macroeconomic Factors on US Islamic and Conventional Equity

This study explores the influence of economic fundamentals on both Islamic and conventional equity in the US stock market by applying various methods of time series techniques focusing on the period from January 1996 to September 2013. The empirical results show that the exogenous variables are industrial production (IP), interest rate (T3), and consumer production index (CPI); whereas Islamic stock index (IS), conventional stock index (CS), and money supply (M2) are endogenous variables. When IP, T3, or CPI receives a shock, it will deviate from the equilibrium and will transmit the shock to other variables whereas if IS, CS, or M2 undergoes a shock, the long-run combination will correct it through the short-run adjustment to the equilibrium. The empirical findings also reveal a higher impact of industrial production and lower impact of interest rate on Islamic equity, as compared to conventional equity. Our results are consistent with the theory that Islamic finance, due to its effective Sharīʿah screening process, is more prevalent in the real economic sector and less associated with interest-based activities.