Influence of COVID-induced fear on sovereign bond yield

Abstract

There is limited literature exploring the relationship between the sentiment of fear and bond markets. This study analyzes the influence of fear generated by the coronavirus on bond markets, particularly on the yield of sovereign bond debt issued by the G7 countries (Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom). To accomplish this, search volumes compiled by Google Trends on the topic of coronavirus were used as a proxy for COVID-induced fear. The results from applying a panel data approach for the period from 1 January 2020 to 30 December 2020, show that this fear positively impacts the 10-year sovereign bond yield. We show that a one-point increase in COVID-induced fear was associated with an increase in the weekly change in the sovereign bond yield of around 0.0007%. Thus, we found that COVID-induced fear was associated with an increase in country risk perception. These findings have important implications for policymakers by demonstrating the importance of searching a balance between health concerns and impacts on the economy to avoid increasing country risk. In addition, the results obtained show that in times of greater fear of the coronavirus, investors can obtain higher returns by investing in safe assets, such as sovereign bonds.