Google search volumes and the financial markets during the COVID-19 outbreak

Michele Costola; Matteo Iacopini; Carlo R M A Santagiustina

doi:10.1016/j.frl.2020.101884

Google search volumes and the financial markets during the COVID-19 outbreak

Financ Res Lett. 2021 Oct:42:101884. doi: 10.1016/j.frl.2020.101884. Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Authors

Michele Costola¹, Matteo Iacopini², Carlo R M A Santagiustina¹

Affiliations

¹ Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Cannaregio 873, 30123 Venice Italy.
² Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands.

Abstract

During the outbreak of the COVID-19, concerns related to the severity of the pandemic have played a prominent role in investment decisions. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between public attention and the financial markets using search engine data from Google Trends. Our findings show that search query volumes in Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States are connected with stock markets. The Italian Google Trends index is found to be the main driver of all the considered markets. Furthermore, the country-specific market impacts of COVID-19-related concerns closely follow the Italian lockdown process.

Keywords: COVID-19; Financial Markets; Google Trends.