Integration and interdependence of stock and foreign exchange markets: an Australian perspective

This paper examines the integration of the Australian stock market with its two leading trading partners, the US and Japan. In investigating the extent of integration, this study takes into account the interdependence between foreign exchange rates and stock prices, since exchange rates influence international competitiveness of firms, and, via interest rates, the cost of capital. The results indicate that there was a stable long-run relationship among the Australian, US and Japanese markets prior to the Asian crisis but that this relationship disappeared in the post-Asian crisis period. An analysis of the short-run dynamic linkages among markets suggests that, following the Asian crisis, the US influence on the Australian market diminished while the influence of Japan remained at a modest level. Furthermore, the impulse response analysis indicates only a contemporaneous transmission of shocks from one market to other markets. Confidence intervals for impulse responses are estimated using the bootstrap-after-bootstrap method.