Evaluating the Impact of Sentiment Analysis on Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Trading Strategies

Abstract

Portfolio optimization is a form of investment management that aims to maximize returns while minimizing risks. However, the inherent complexity and unpredictability of financial markets pose a challenge. Recent advancements in machine learning, particularly in deep reinforcement learning (DRL), offer promising solutions by enabling dynamic and adaptive trading strategies. This paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of three actor-critic-based DRL algorithms-Advantage Actor-Critic (A2C), Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO)-applied to portfolio optimization. These strategies were implemented in both sentiment-aware and non-sentiment-aware versions, allowing for a direct comparison of their performance. The sentiment-aware models incorporated sentiment analysis using FinBERT and knowledge graphs to measure market sentiment from financial news, while the non-sentiment-aware models relied solely on stock prices and technical indicators. Our comparative study demonstrates that incorporating sentiment analysis resulted in consistently superior risk-adjusted returns and portfolio resilience during market fluctuations compared to non-sentiment-aware strategies. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.