Investors’ sentiment and stocks performance

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of investors’ sentiment and of the global financial crisis (GFC) on the stock markets performance. The sample includes 336 companies from five countries within Central and Eastern Europe (CEE): Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The analysis covers the period 2006-2013, surprising the global financial crisis. The results show that investors’ optimism in what concerns the economic environment increases their appetite to invest in young emerging markets with a positive effect on the evolution of the overall stock market. In contrast, if investors are pessimistic, the markets are expected to decline. The empirical findings reveal also the negative impact of the GFC on the stock performance of CEE companies.