Abstract

Debate on the stochastic behaviour of stock market returns, 3-month Treasury Bills rate, lending rate and their cointegrating residuals remains unsettled. This study examines the stochastic properties of the macroeconomic variables, stock market returns and their cointegrating residuals using an Autoregressive Fractionally Integrated Moving Average (ARFIMA) model. It also investigates Granger causality between the two measures of interest rate and stock market returns. The study uses monthly data from 1^st January 1993 to 31^st December 2015. The results indicate that the 3-month Treasury Bills rate, lending rate and stock market returns are fractionally integrated which implies that shocks to the variables persist but eventually disappear. The results also reveal that the cointegrating residuals are fractionally integrated which suggests that a new and harmful long-run equilibrium might be established when each of the measures of interest rate is driven away from stock market returns. Additionally, the results indicate that the 3-month Treasury Bills rate and lending rate negatively Granger cause stock market returns in the long run. This suggests that stocks and Treasury Bills are competing investment assets. On the other hand, ARFIMA-based Granger causality reveals that stock market returns lead the 3-month Treasury Bills rate and lending rate with a negative sign in the short run. This implies that a prosperous stock market results into a favorable macroeconomic environment. A key contribution of this study is that it is the first to empirically examine fractional cointegration and ARFIMA-based Granger Causality between interest rate and stock market returns in Kenya.

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