Is there a relationship between investor attention co-movement and stock return co-movement? Evidence from Indonesia

The purpose of the paper is to select the right market proxy for calculating the expected return, since critically evaluating proxies or selecting the correct proxy market portfolio is essential for portfolio management because the change in the market portfolio proxy affects returns. In this study, monthly data of equity indices are evaluated to find out the better market proxy. The indices taken are BSE 30 (Sensex), Nifty 50, BSE 100, BSE 200, and BSE 500. The macroeconomic variables used in the study are industrial production index (IIP), consumer price index (CPI), money supply (M1), and exchange rate in India. To avoid the influence of COVID-19, the research period was from January 2013 to December 2019 to critically evaluate these proxies in order to find the most appropriate market proxy. This paper reveals a noteworthy relationship between stock market returns and macroeconomic factors, while suggesting that the BSE 500 is a better choice for all equity indices, as the index also shows a significant relationship with all macroeconomic variables. BSE500 is a composite index comprising all sectors with low, mid and large cap securities, therefore it reflects the impact of macroeconomic factors most efficiently, taking it as a market proxy. This study was carried out in the context of India and can be replicated for other countries.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between different audit committee attributes and company performance in Bahrain. This paper investigates the impact of audit committee independence, size, and meeting frequency on company performance (employing ROE, ROA, and Tobin’s Q). Data from all 14 non-financial publicly listed companies on Bahrain Bourse during 2005–2019 were used. The results revealed that companies with independent audit committees and big audit committees in terms of size are performing poorly. It is also shown that the number of audit committee meetings does not affect company performance. Further, this study failed to find any association between the number of audit committee meetings and company performance. The findings show that shareholders might lack knowledge of the importance of corporate governance mechanisms. The results of this study should be of potential interest to different stakeholders, including regulators, investors, and auditors, in their attempts to improve company performance and monitoring mechanisms in emerging economies.

Social media significantly influences investor behavior, particularly in emerging markets like the Egyptian stock market. This study examines its impact on trading frequency, herding behavior, and overconfidence among Egyptian investors. Data were collected through a structured survey of 300 active investors, distributed via two prominent Facebook pages: “The Popular Union of Investors in the Egyptian Stock Market” and “Investment in the Egyptian Stock Market.” The sample was determined using Cochran’s formula for large, undefined populations, achieving a 78% response rate from the 385 recommended respondents. A descriptive quantitative approach was employed, utilizing correlation tests and regression analysis to assess relationships between social media engagement and investor behavior.
Findings indicate that social media usage significantly increases trading frequency, as investors make more reactive decisions based on rapidly available information. Herding behavior is also positively associated with social media engagement, demonstrating that investors tend to follow market trends and decisions discussed in online communities. Additionally, social media exposure fosters overconfidence, leading to increased risk-taking behavior. These insights highlight the critical role of social media in shaping investor behavior, with practical implications for regulators, financial advisors, and individual investors. Regulators should promote investor education on the cognitive biases linked to social media engagement, while financial advisors must address its influence on client decision-making. Future research should explore platform-specific features, such as visual content and influencer-driven financial advice, to better understand their effects on investment strategies.

Acknowledgment
The authors are thankful to the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research at University of Bisha for supporting this work through the Fast-Track Research Support Program.