Stock Market Returns and Direction Prediction: An Empirical Study on Karachi Stock Exchange

Abstract

There has been much research in the recent past on the predictability of stock return, mainly due to its significance in managing economic gains on a high scale. Our research initiates the forecasting of the Karachi stock return with the help of the Wavelet analysis and Empirical mode decomposition method. This paper attends in large part to investors and traders to deduce a method for predicting the stock market. The collected data ranges from Jan 2009 to Dec 2012. Every training set is selected from January through October and the sets left over are used for testing. What we have discovered is that Empirical Mode decomposition (EMD) method supersedes all other models on the Mean square error and Mean Absolute error criteria. We may also evaluate the performance of these models by changing strategy direction and comparing payoffs to understand which framework performs as a better forecasting model. It is establishes by the results of the study that the same model serves better for forecasting in trading strategy and could rule over other possible models for most periods under consideration. It is our belief that this study will help stock investors to come to quick decisions about optimal buying or selling time in Karachi Stock Exchange

Key Words: Forecasting, KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange) 100 Index, Empirical Mode Decomposition, Trading Strategy