Macroeconomic Determinants of Stock Market in the United States and a China-Related Market
English
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26740/independent.v6i1.74671Keywords:
stock, bitcoinAbstract
This study analyzes the short-run macroeconomic determinants of stock market dynamics in the United States and a China-related equity market using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach. Monthly data are employed for the S&P 500 Index and the Hang Seng Index, along with key macroeconomic variables: Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Industrial Production Index (IPI), and Bitcoin (BTC) prices. Unit root test results show mixed orders of integration, supporting the use of the ARDL framework. However, bounds testing finds no evidence of cointegration, indicating the absence of a long-run relationship and justifying a focus on short-run dynamics. The findings reveal clear market asymmetries. In the United States, industrial production has a significant negative effect on stock returns, while BTC prices exert a positive and significant influence, reflecting risk-on behavior and liquidity effects. In contrast, EPU in China shows a positive and near-significant effect, suggesting uncertainty is perceived as a signal of potential policy intervention. Inflation remains insignificant in both markets, highlighting structural differences between mature and policy-driven economies.
Keywords: S&P 500, Hang Seng Index, Economic Policy Uncertainty, Consumer Price Index, Industrial Productivity Index, Bitcoin, United States and China
Downloads
References
Ahmed, M. Y., Sarkodie, S. A., & Leirvik, T. (2023). Mutual coupling between stock market and cryptocurrencies. Heliyon, 9(5), 8–9. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16179
Amiti, M., Gomez, M., Kong, S. H., & Weinstein, D. (2025). Trade Protection, Stock-Market Returns, and Welfare. Http://www.nber.org/papers/w28758
Baum, C. F., A. Kurov, & M. H. Wolfe. (2015). What do Chinese macro announcements tell us about the world economy? Journal of International Money and Finance, 59, 100–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jimonfin.2015.07.002
Cai, Y., Tao, Y., & Yan, Z. (2020). Stock market trading volumes and economic uncertainty dependence: before and during Sino-U.S. trade friction. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istrazivanja, 33(1), 1711–1728. Https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1758185
Chen, J., Jiang, F., & Tong, G. (2017). Economic Policy Uncertainty in China and Stock Market Expected Returns. SSRN Electronic Journal. Https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2808862
Chen, Y., & Li, M. (2024). Empirical Project Economic Forces in Stock Returns. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.04132
Chen, Z. (2025). From Disruption to Integration: Cryptocurrency Prices, Financial Fluctuations, and Macroeconomy. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 18(7). Https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18070360
Chiang, T. C., & Chen, X. (2017). Stock Market Activities and Industrial Production Growth: Evidence from 20 International Markets (pp. 39–75). Https://doi.org/10.1108/s2514-465020170000001003
Conlon, T., Corbet, S., & mcgee, R. J. (2020). Are cryptocurrencies a safe haven for equity markets? An international perspective from the COVID-19 pandemic. Research in International Business and Finance, 54. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2020.101248
Fajgelbaum, P. D., Goldberg, P. K., Kennedy, P. J., & Khandelwal, A. K. (2019). The return to protectionism. Http://www.nber.org/papers/w25638
Guenichi, H., Khalfaoui, H., & Chouaibi, N. (2021). The impact of own-country, USA and China’s economic policy uncertainty on stock market returns: evidence from war, epidemic and financial crisis periods. International Journal of Sustainable Economy, 13(2), 126–149. Https://doi.org/10.1504/ijse.2021.114618
Gutierrez, G., Turen, J., & Vicondoa, A. (2025). Global Financial Spillovers of Chinese Macroeconomic Surprises. Https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229015240.001
Heinlein, R., & Lepori, G. M. (2022). Do financial markets respond to macroeconomic surprises? Evidence from the UK. Empirical Economics, 62(5), 2329–2371. Https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-021-02108-1
Jacob, T., Malavika, M., & Raphael, R. (2025). The Impact of Inflation on Stock Market Return: Evidence from China. Review of Professional Management, 20–34. Https://doi.org/10.1177/09728686241304850
Javaheri, B., habibi, F., & Amani, R. (2022). Economic policy uncertainty and the US stock market trading: non-ARDL evidence. Future Business Journal, 8(1), 5–8. Https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-022-00150-8
Kang, D., Ryu, D., & Webb, R. I. (2025). Bitcoin as a financial asset: a survey. Financial Innovation, 11(1). Https://doi.org/10.1186/s40854-025-00773-0
Khan, M. A., Ahmed, M., Popp, J., & Oláh, J. (2020). US Policy Uncertainty and Stock Market Nexus Revisited through Dynamic ARDL Simulation and Threshold Modelling. Mathematics, 8(11), 1–20. Https://doi.org/10.3390/math8112073
Lardy, N. R., & Huang, T. (2020). 20-17 China’s Financial Opening Accelerates. Https://www.piie.com/publications/policy-briefs/chinas-financial-opening-accelerates
Li, P., Li, J., Huang, L., & Cui, Z. (2023). Volatility Spillovers between Bitcoin and Chinese Financial Markets. Procedia Computer Science, 221, 1474–1484. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2023.08.014
LI, T. H., Londono, J. M., & Ma, S. (2025). The Global Transmission of Inflation Uncertainty. Https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.3692.
Morrison, W. M. (2019). China’s Economic Rise: History, Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the United States. Https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL33534
Muth, & John F. (1961). Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements. In Econometrica (Vol. 29, Issue 3). Https://doi.org/10.2307/1909635.
Nguyen Phuc Canh, Schiunckus Christophe, Nguyen Quang Binh, Lai Trung Thanh, & Nguyen Ai Nhi. (2025). Economic policy uncertainty and firm- level stock returns: Further evidence from
China. Journal of International Studies, 18(1), 216–231. Https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-8330.2025/18-1/13
Obstfeld, M. (2019). Global Dimensions of U.S. Monetary Policy. Https://doi.org/10.3386/w26039.
Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y., & Smith, R. J. (2001). Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics 16,No.3, 289–326. Http://www.jstor.org/stable/2678547.
Schnorpfeil, P., Weber, M., & Hackethal, A. (2024). Inflation and Trading. Https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4822700
Shao, Y.H., Yang, Y.H., & Zhou, W.X. (2022). How does economic policy uncertainty come with stock markets: New evidence from symmetric thermal optimal path method. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2022.127745
Shrestha, M. B., & Bhatta, G. R. (2018). Selecting appropriate methodological framework for time series data analysis. Journal of Finance and Data Science, 4(2), 71–89. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfds.2017.11.001
Subhani, Imtiaz M., Osman, & Amber (2011). Stock market reactions due to announcements of consumer price index and the investigation of endogeneity. In utc published d in interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business (Vol. 34725, Issue 1). Https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/34725
Wang, R., & Li, L. (2020). Dynamic relationship between the stock market and macroeconomy in China (1995–2018): new evidence from the continuous wavelet analysis. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istrazivanja , 33(1), 521–539. Https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1716264
Wang, Y., & Kong, D. (2022). Economic Policy Uncertainty and the Energy Stock Market: Evidence From China. Energy Research Letters, 3(1), 1–3. Https://doi.org/10.46557/001c.28171
Xie Wenhao, & Cao Guangxi. (2024). Dynamic Spillover effects between Cryptocurrencies and China’s Financial Markets: New evidence from a TVP-VAR extended joint connectedness approach. Https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4769838
Yue, P., Fan, Y., Batten, J. A., & Zhou, W.X. (2020). Information transfer between stock market sectors: A comparison between the USA and China. 4–8. Https://doi.org/10.3390/e22020194
Zhang, Hu, M., & Ji, Q. (2020). Financial markets under the global pandemic of COVID-19. Finance Research Letters, 36. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2020.101528
Zhang, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2024). A Study on the Relationship Between Bitcoin and Stock Market Volatility under Different Policy Environments. International Journal of Global Economics and Management, 3(3), 1–11. Https://doi.org/10.62051/ijgem.v3n3.01
Zhao, M., & Park, H. (2024). Research on the Dynamic Interrelationship between Economic Policy Uncertainty and Stock Market Returns. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 17(8), 12–13. Https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm17080347
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ardika Tristyanto, aminuddin ma'ruf

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract views: 16
,
PDF Downloads: 15





