Effect of Ap-Index of Geomagnetic Activity on S&P 500 Stock Market Return

Abstract

Geomagnetic activity with global influence is an essential object of space weather research and is a significant link in the section of the solar wind-magnetospheric coupling process. Research so far provides strong evidence that geomagnetic activity affects stock investment decisions by influencing human health, mood, and human behaviours. Therefore, this research investigates the empirical association between geomagnetic activity and stock market return. Overall, we find that geomagnetic activity exerts a negative influence on the return of the US stock market. Further, market liquidity effectively magnifies the effect of geomagnetic activity. Inconsistent with previous literature, this effect is not mainly caused by the semiannual variation of geomagnetic activity. Our research contributes to the introduction of geomagnetic indices to financial economics studies on the impact of geomagnetic activity influence on stock market return.