Empirical testing of the informational efficiency in Palestine Securities exchange (PSE)‎

Abstract EN

This study aimed at empirically testing the efficiency of the Palestine Securities Exchange (PSE) in terms of the Composite Index (Al-Quds) for the period 8 July 1997–30 December 2007, i.

e.

(196s Observations).

The random walk test is performed to ascertain whether the (PSE) is Weak Form Efficient.

Three widely accepted statistical tests have been used, namely : Auto-Correlation Function (ACF), Variance Ratio (VR) based on (Lo and McKinley’s 1988) Parametric tests, and Run tests as nonparametric tests.

Results showed that the PSE was inefficient for all and partial period samples, even after modification of date and analysis for the true underlying index using (Miller.

Muthuswamy and Whaley 1994) approach.

However, these results are consistent with evidence provided in {(Shaheen, 2006), (AbuZarrour, 2005), (Al-Fayoumi, 2003)}.

Thus, on the repatriation of capital, which may have deterred foreign participation, and contributed to illiquidity and low volume of trading, are due to the weakness confidence and perceived risks of the market.

Therefore, the study presented a number of recommendations that may be helpful in improving the efficiency of the PSE, which in turn increases its role in the Palestinian economy as whole.