Pan(dem)ic reactions in Turkish stock market: evidence from share repurchases

Share repurchases have been widely used in global markets for years various purposes such as to pay out cash, stabilize stock prices, and so on. However, their use has recently challenged due the economic financial uncertainty imposed by COVID-19 outbreak. Not only governments put bans or restrictions on repurchasing transactions but also some major companies themselves suspended buyback programs preserve cash. On other hand, repurchase activity manifested itself Turkish capital somewhat unexpectedly under uncertain market conditions. This study is one of first attempts explore impact share returns an emerging severely hit COVID-19. Our analyses reveal that reaction aftermath pandemic declaration March 11, 2020 was significantly positive. Moreover, short-term performance firms far greater than non-repurchasing peers. These results important policy implications terms corporate payout decisions which new coronavirus.