ABSTRACT
In this study, we present the evidence of dramatic changes in the structure and time-varying patterns of volatility connectedness across equities and major commodities (oil, gold, silver and natural gas) in the US economy before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. We utilize high frequency 5-min trading data of most actively traded US ETFs to construct the volatility connectedness network. We compute the intraday volatility estimates using MCS-GARCH model and then employ Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) spillover index approach to approximate volatility spillovers between the financial markets. Our main findings showcase significant impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the volatility linkages of financial markets as the volatility connectedness among the different assets peaked during the outbreak. Other findings and implications of the study are further discussed. © 2021 The Authors