COVID-19 Pandemic Power Play in Bursa Malaysia: How Glove-Related Announcements Shaped Stock Market Investors’ Reaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32890/ijbf2026.21.1.1Keywords:
Company announcements, COVID-19 pandemic, glove business, stock market reactionsAbstract
This study investigates how the Malaysian stock market reacted to glove-related corporate announcements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on the period between March and September 2020, we employ the event study methodology to analyze 69 announcements from both established glove manufacturers and new entrants listed on Bursa Malaysia. Our findings reveal significant abnormal returns following initial announcements, particularly those signaling diversification into glove manufacturing by nontraditional firms. These early disclosures were perceived as material by investors, while subsequent updates drew diminishing reactions. By examining this sector-specific response during a global crisis, the study contributes original insights into investor behavior, market efficiency, and the informational value of corporate disclosures in emerging markets. Future research could further explore trading volatility and firm-specific determinants influencing stock market responses.
References
Altig et al. (2020). Economic uncertainty before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Public Economics, 191, 104274. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JPUBECO.2020.104274
Bahaludin, H., Nur Amirah Mahamood, F., Hafizah Abdullah, M., Ashraf Fauzi, M., & Omar, M. (2022). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interconnectedness of stocks in Bursa Malaysia. Matematika, 38(2), 69–82. www.matematika.utm.my
Bengtsson, M. (2016). How to plan and perform a qualitative study using content analysis. NursingPlus Open, 2, 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.npls.2016.01.
Beyer, A., Cohen, D. A., Lys, T. Z., & Walther, B. R. (2010). The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 50(2–3), 296–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2010.10.
Blankespoor, E., deHaan, E., & Marinovic, I. (2020). Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 70(2–3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2020.101344
Bursa Malaysia. (2021). Integrated Annual Report 2020. https://bursa.listedcompany.com/misc/ Integrated_Annual_Report_2020.pdf
Bursa Malaysia. (2023). Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market Listing Requirement. https://www. bursamalaysia.com/regulation/listing_requirements/main_market/listing_requirements
Chester Tay. (2022, August 3). MARGMA expects global glove demand to resume growth next year, after 19% drop. The Edge Malaysia. https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/margma-expects-global-glove-demand-resume-growth-next-year-after-19-drop
Chow, Y. P., & Tan, Y. H. (2023). Impact of COVID-19 and government interventions on Bursa Malaysia sectors. Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, 16(2), 99–118. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCEFTS-06-2022-0039/FULL/XML
Cupák, A., Fessler, P., Hsu, J. W., & Paradowski, P. R. (2022). Investor confidence and high financial literacy jointly shape investments in risky assets. Economic Modelling, 116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2022.106033
Fama, E. F. (1970). Efficient capital markets: A review of theory and empirical work. The Journal of Finance, 25(2), 383–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1970.tb00518.x
Han, Y., & Dunning, D. (2024). Metaknowledge of experts versus nonexperts: Do experts know better what they do and do not know? Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 37(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.2375
Hutchinson, F. E., & Bhattacharya, P. (2021, March 23). Malaysia’s rubber glove industry-the good, the bad and the ugly. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspective/2021-35-malaysias-rubber-glove-industry-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-by-francis-e-hutchinson- and-pritish-bhattacharya/
Keh, C. G., & Tan, Y. T. (2021). COVID 19: The impact of government policy responses on economic activity and stock market performance in Malaysia. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 55(1). https://doi.org/10.17576/JEM-2021-5501-
Kruger, J., & Dunning, D. (1999). Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 121–1134.
Law et al. (2020). An analysis of the stock market reaction to the announcements of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy. Economics and Human Biology, 38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2019.100834
Lee, W. K. (2021, January 5). Surviving The Impact of COVID-19: Healthcare the sector with the most deals. The Edge Malaysia. https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/surviving-impact-covid19-healthcare-sector-most-deals
Liu, M., Choo, W. C., & Lee, C. C. (2020). The response of the stock market to the announcement of global pandemic. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 56(15), 3562–3577. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2020.1850441
Martins, A. M., & Cró, S. (2022). Airline stock markets reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak and vaccines: An event study. Journal of Air Transport Management, 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2022.102281
Mazur, M., Dang, M., & Vega, M. (2021). COVID-19 and the march 2020 stock market crash. Evidence from S&P1500. Finance Research Letters, 38, 101690. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FRL. 2020.101690
Patti Domm. (2020, December 30). Pandemic-stocks: COVID drove massive market gains—what happens next. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/30/how-the-pandemic-drove-massive-stock-market-gains-and-what-happens-next.html
Ramelli, S., Wagner, A. F., Schrimpf, A., Wang, J., Zeckhauser, R. J., & Ziegler, A. (2020). Feverish stock price reactions to COVID-19. The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 9(3), 622–655. https://doi.org/10.1093/RCFS/CFAA
Securities Commission Malaysia. (2021). Annual report 2020. www.investsmartsc.my
Suresh, G. (2024). Impact of financial literacy and behavioural biases on investment decision-making. FIIB Business Review, 13(1), 72–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/23197145211035481
World Health Organization. (2020, March 11). WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19—11 March 2020. https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/ who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020
Yunus, K. M., Muslimin, & Dwijaya, I. K. B. (2022). Market reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic: Events study at stocks listed on LQ45 index. Cogent Business and Management, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.2024979
Zhong, Z., Wu, Q., & Wang, M. (2024). Does the U.S.–China trade war stop? A novel event study on fake news and stock price in China. Finance Research Letters, 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. frl.2024.105702
Zuhud, D. A. Z., Musa, M. H., Ismail, M., Bahaludin, H., & Razak, F. A. (2022). The causality and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic to Bursa Malaysia financial services index’s constituents. Entropy, 24(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/e24081100
Published
Issue
Section
How to Cite
Research impact
Harvested 2026-09-07Counts differ between services because each indexes a different body of literature. None of them is the whole picture.
