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Identifying Bull and Bear Markets in Japan

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Abstract

This study investigates the returns and volatility of bull and bear markets as represented by the Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX). Our results show that bull markets are characterized by high returns and low volatility and that the opposite is true for bear markets. Further, this study uncovers a relationship between the duration of bull and bear markets and the point at which the TOPIX has turned from bull to bear and vice versa. Our results indicate that a bull or bear market has a higher probability of continuing as the duration of market’s current trend lengthens. If a bull or bear market trend persists for more than nine months, its probability of continuing approaches 1. Conversely, the transition from a rising to a declining market, and vice versa, is more likely to occur when the previous trend has persisted for less than nine months.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Business, Rikkyo University, 3-34-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo, 171-8501, Japan

    Mai Shibata

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  1. Mai Shibata
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Correspondence to Mai Shibata.

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Shibata, M. Identifying Bull and Bear Markets in Japan. Asia-Pac Financ Markets 19, 99–117 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10690-011-9143-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10690-011-9143-7

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