The weekday effect on the Shanghai stock exchange

Abstract

This study is an attempt to explore the weekday effect on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) in the People's Republic of China. Two major indices the A-share Index and the B-share Index are used for the study. The result shows that the weekday effect does exist on the SSE, especially after the price and volume control imposed by regulations were abolished from 21 May 1992. A comparative analysis shows that the weekday effects of A shares and B shares are significantly different. The changes in stock exchange regulations can have a profound effect on the week-day effect in stock returns. The settlement system and the nontrading period do not, however, contribute much to the existence of weekday effect. Although there is significant weekday effect on the SSE, it is not likely that an average investor could exploit it for extra profits due to transaction costs.