What is Return

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, which emerged at the end of 2019 and spread to the world at a very fast pace, resulted in a pandemic affecting the finance industry besides many other industries though at varying extents. Financial markets, which can be regarded as cornerstones of each and every country's economic success, have been adversely influenced due to the fear and uncertainty arising with the emergence of the novel coronavirus at different degrees. This chapter provides a summary of a literature review based on the impact of this pandemic on stock returns and volatility in the stock exchanges of different countries and regions of the world. What has been captured as a result of this literature review is that almost all of the financial markets around the world have been influenced due to the virus. Further, industry-wise empirical studies demonstrate that not all industries are affected at the same level or even in the same direction.