KHAS ITF Finance Seminar: Walid Ben Omrane The Role of Macroeconomic News Announcements

Dear colleagues and students,  

We are very excited to host Walid Ben Omrane at the Khas Finance Webinar series organized by the International Trade and Finance Department. The talk will be held on campus. Please find the details below.

Speaker: Walid Ben Omrane 

Institution: Brock University

Day and Time: 22 April 2025 (Tuesday), 14.00 (GMT+3) 

Title: Intraday price dynamics in financial markets: The role of macroeconomic news announcements

Room: B201.1

Abstract: This study proposes a new approach to measuring macroeconomic news and evaluates its effectiveness in capturing market reactions compared to traditional surprise and pure news approaches. Using 5-minute Euro-Dollar and S&P 500 price data from 2017 to 2021, we analyze how scheduled macroeconomic news announcements affect returns, volatility, and price jumps. The findings reveal that the proposed approach delivers stronger explanatory power by incorporating historical context and avoiding the omission of significant news events. Its performance is particularly notable during the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to FOMC rate decisions, highlighting its value in financial market analysis.

About the speaker: Walid Ben Omrane began teaching at Goodman School of Business in Brock University in 2007. He holds Master and PhD degrees in Financial Economics from University of Louvain in Belgium. Prior to joining Brock, Ben Omrane worked as an assistant professor of finance at the University of Quebec in Montreal, University of Louvain and University of Liege. He is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, in recognition of high Scholastic Achievement. Ben Omrane’s research interests are in foreign exchange market microstructure, international finance, and financial econometrics. His research has been published in finance, economics and statistics journals such as Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, International Review of Financial Analysis, Empirical Economics, and Computational Statistics and Data Analysis. Ben Omrane’s research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). He has served as a member of the Insight Research Grant Adjudication Committee of the SSHRC. Additionally, he received several research awards, including the 2016-17 FOIS Researcher of the Year Award, and the Best Paper Award in Investments, Financial Markets, and Valuation at the 2014 Global Finance Association conference in Dubai.

For inquiries about the event: [email protected]

Previous events at the KHAS Finance Webinar Series: https://itf.khas.edu.tr/etkinlikler/