The Daylight Saving Time Anomaly in Stock Returns: Fact or Fiction?

Abstract

We find no evidence of a Daylight Saving Time anomaly in stock returns based on empirical evidence from twenty-two stock markets around the world. Stock market returns on the days following a switch from or to Daylight Saving Time do not behave any differently from stock returns on any other day of the week or month. These results reject earlier conclusions in the literature -- based on far less data -- that investors' mood changes induced by changes in sleep patterns significantly affect stock returns

Keywords: Daylight Saving Time, Mood, International Stock Market Returns