QLSTM4FM: Quantum Assisted Long Short-Term Memory Framework for Financial Market Trend Forecasting

This research explores a novel hybrid neural network architecture for stock price forecasting that integrates Variational Quantum Layers (VQLs) to enhance efficiency and trainability. It examines various quantum-classical algorithms through extensive simulations on both classical and quantum hardware, utilizing key stock indicators like MACD, EMA, Bollinger Bands, and momentum metrics, alongside sentiment analysis of financial news. The dataset used includes real-time stock prices for 15 companies, focusing on Merck & Co. (MRK). By framing stock price forecasting as a binary classification problem, It proposes QLSTM4FM i.e. a unique framework based on quantum-assisted LSTM model, which significantly enhances stock price forecasting. It conducts a thorough and comprehensive performance evaluation of the proposed framework against classical LSTM models. Results show that QLSTM4FM, featuring quantum-enhanced layers, outperforms classical LSTM models in accuracy, lower loss, and faster convergence, demonstrating the potential of quantum computing in financial forecasting.