RUAHA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

The COVID 19 pandemic has threatened the world in this 21st century. Despite taking millions of lives, the pandemic affected several economic activities as well. Financial markets, being among the key economic activities that facilitate economic development of a country are not left out. This study aims at examining the effect of COVID 19 pandemic on stock market performance in Tanzania: A case of Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data collected. Trends of the weekly stock prices calculated from the historical prices of the listed companies at DSE were used to understand the performance of the stock market before and during COVID 19 pandemic. A sample of 21 listed companies based in Tanzania was used out of the population of the 28 listed companies. Companies were stratified basing on their sectors as listed in DSE to ensure representativeness of the sample from the heterogonous population to form homogeneous sector. Findings represented from line graphs revealed that during the COVID 19 pandemic, stock market performance was affected negatively as the weekly stock prices were declining. The researcher recommends that the leading stakeholders of stock market exchange should provide awareness to the public on opportunities available in the financial markets. And also, they should use media and other visibility forums to lay a platform for awareness provision to the public concerning opportunities available in financial markets both before and during pandemic periods.The COVID 19 pandemic has threatened the world in this 21st century. Despite taking millions of lives, the pandemic affected several economic activities as well. Financial markets, being among the key economic activities that facilitate economic development of a country are not left out. This study aims at examining the effect of COVID 19 pandemic on stock market performance in Tanzania: A case of Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

Covid-19 Pandemic, Stock Market Performance