Institutional Investors,Earnings Quality and Asset Liquidity: Evidence from China’s Stock Market

This paper investigates how institutional holding and earnings quality influence the liquidity of assets. Contrary to findings in developed markets, we document several novel results in China’s stock market: (1) institutional holding negatively affects assets’ liquidity, (2) earnings quality is negatively related with liquidity. Since earnings quality captures asymmetric information, low earnings quality induces high divergence in investor opinions and thus boosts market trading, and (3) interestingly, the effect of earnings quality on liquidity is greater if institutional investors’ holding is at a high level. Overall, our findings cast doubt on the conventional wisdom that institutional investors and earnings quality improve market liquidity. The results are robust to different measures and alternative model specifications.     

Call Auction Transparency and Market Liquidity: Evidence from China

This paper uses the natural experiment offered by the Shanghai Stock Exchange to investigate the impact of opening call auction transparency on market liquidity. We find that the dissemination of indicative trade information during the pre‐open call auction session leads to an overall improvement in stock liquidity in the continuous trading session. Bid‐ask spreads narrow in the first trading hour because adverse selection risk fell significantly and there is less price volatility in the continuous market. This effect is greater for actively traded securities than illiquid securities. Our findings are robust for different lengths of sample period, different lengths of trading hours after market open, and stocks that had (and had not) reformed the share split structure during our research period.     

Intraday volatility in the bond,foreign exchange,and stock index futures markets

Intraday volatility for the Eurodollar, the Euro/dollar foreign exchange rate, and the E‐mini S&P 500 futures contracts traded on a continuous 23‐hour schedule on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Globex electronic platform is studied. Volatility transmission in a single market across different regions is mainly explained by intraregion volatility (heat waves); interregion volatility (meteor showers) plays a secondary role. The joint impact of liquidity variables such as volume and open interest on volatility is also analyzed. Volume tends to increase volatility, but open interest does not affect it. The results are explained by the type of trading venue. Unlike floor‐based trading systems, in electronic markets open interest does not seem to provide additional information on market liquidity and its relation to volatility beyond any information contributed by volume. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 28:313– 334, 2008     

The price impact of futures trades and their intraday seasonality

This study examines the price impact of futures trades and their intraday seasonality by analyzing the continuous trading session dataset of KOSPI 200 futures, including the opening and closing periods. For this purpose, the study analyzes the futures dataset that contains information on transaction times, trade directions, order sizes, and the types of investors initiating the transactions. The results suggest several novel findings. First, a substantial portion of the price impact of futures trades is persistent, indicating the presence of informed trading in the futures market. Second, informed trading is concentrated in the opening period and liquidity trading is concentrated in the closing period of the continuous trading session. Third, small trades usually have a greater price impact than large ones, supporting the existence of stealth trading by futures traders. Fourth, trades by institutional investors have a greater price impact than those by individuals, suggesting that institutional investors are better informed and/or more sophisticated than individual investors in the futures market.     

The Intraday Pattern of Information Asymmetry,Spread, and Depth: Evidence from the NYSE

Studies suggest that investment flows, liquidity imbalances, and institutional trading may create intraday trading patterns and opportunities for investors to time their trades to reduce transaction costs. Motivated by these studies, we divide each trading day into 13 half‐hour trading intervals and measure information asymmetry from price changes, trade sizes, and trade directions. We find that information asymmetry starts high in the morning, drops continuously until it reaches a midday low during Interval 7, rises to a midday high during Interval 10, and drops continuously after. In contrast, neither the spread nor the depth exhibit similar midday extreme values. Essentially, we identify a 90‐min window in the afternoon when net valuable information arrives to the market in high frequency while liquidity is stable, and that may be an opportunity for some investors to time their trades. In addition, we show that market makers employ dynamic strategies that change the spread, the depth, or both to manage information asymmetry. This is particularly evident during the last three trading intervals, where the significant drop in information asymmetry is countered primarily by a significant increase in the depth while the spread is almost constant.     

Sentiment-dependent impact of funding liquidity shocks on futures market liquidity

We examine the effect of funding liquidity changes on futures market liquidity, depending on economic sentiment. Futures market liquidity improves following negative funding liquidity shocks, and economic sentiment is an important determinant explaining this relationship. While individuals' trading is most significantly affected by sentiment, its response to funding liquidity shocks remains independent of sentiment effects. Domestic institutions' reactions depend on the sentiment regime; they trade futures contracts more actively as funding liquidity becomes more abundant (scarcer) when sentiment is more pessimistic (optimistic). Foreigners, following negative funding liquidity shocks, generally increase their futures trading, whereas their trading decreases under the extremely pessimistic sentiment. Domestic banks and pension funds provide liquidity to the futures market even when sentiment is pessimistic.     

Duration,trading volume and the price impact of trades in an emerging futures market

This paper examines the price impact of trading intensity on the MexDer TIIE28 interest rate futures contract, one of the world's most actively traded contracts. A novel volume-augmented duration model of price discovery decomposes trading intensity into liquidity and information components. Duration between transactions exerts a positive influence on price changes, while increases in order flow and trade volume exert positive and negative influences, respectively. The liquidity component dominates the information measure, suggesting that liquidity considerations dictate trade timing. These findings are rationalized with reference to MexDer's organizational structure, specifically the affirmative obligations placed upon marketmakers to trade a minimum volume.     

Liquidity effects of trading frequency

In this paper, we present a discrete‐time modeling framework, in which the shape and dynamics of a Limit Order Book (LOB) arise endogenously from an equilibrium between multiple market participants (agents). We use the proposed modeling framework to analyze the effects of trading frequency on market liquidity in a very general setting. In particular, we demonstrate the dual effect of high trading frequency. On the one hand, the higher frequency increases market efficiency, if the agents choose to provide liquidity in equilibrium. On the other hand, it also makes markets more fragile, in the sense that the agents choose to provide liquidity in equilibrium only if they are market neutral (i.e., their beliefs satisfy certain martingale property). Even a very small deviation from market neutrality may cause the agents to stop providing liquidity, if the trading frequency is sufficiently high, which represents an endogenous liquidity crisis (also known as flash crash) in the market. This framework enables us to provide more insight into how such a liquidity crisis unfolds, connecting it to the so‐called adverse selection effect.     

Slow and fast markets

Informed traders need liquidity in order to profit from their private information. Markets provide liquidity and are compensated by the information released through trading. Fast markets provide access to a limit order book. Slow markets provide execution in an auction-based trading floor. Hybrid markets combine both execution venues. It is shown here that the overall efficiency of a hybrid market is determined by its fast component. The introduction of a trading floor does not generate more informed trading, only takes trading away from the fast market. Trading floors are thus inherently competitive to the fast market. We provide conditions that determine the competitiveness of a trading floor with respect to a fast market.     

The impact of a pro‐rata algorithm on liquidity: Evidence from the NYSE LIFFE

This study investigates the impact of introducing a pure pro‐rata algorithm on the liquidity of the market for Euribor futures contracts on NYSE LIFFE. Results indicate that the Euribor market experiences deterioration in liquidity: (1) both best and total depth fall and (2) quoted spreads widen after the structural change. Results also reveal that the Euribor market becomes more active after the event; both trading volume and trade frequency increase substantially after the event. Finally, after the transition, liquidity demanders are more likely to submit smaller market orders. The reduction in depth and increase in quoted spreads suggest that liquidity demanders incur higher trade execution costs after the transition. In contrast, the transition is beneficial for the exchange since trading volume is higher under the new regime. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 32:660–682, 2012     

Do single‐stock circuit breakers provide a safety net for Canadian investors?

This study looks at the market impact of recent regulatory changes in Canada that provide for trading halts on individual stocks that experience large upside or downside movements. The focus is on all stocks traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange since the inception of the single‐stock circuit breaker rule (SSCB) in February 2012, to replace the short‐sale uptick rule. The results support pricing efficiency: material information that caused the circuit breaker is incorporated in stock prices on the day of the halt (neither overreaction nor underreaction), with no decline in market liquidity. Using trade‐by‐trade data constructed on five‐minute trading intervals, we refine the daily results, and show that shocks in realized volatility are focused in the 10‐minute trading interval surrounding the halts. While circuit breakers provide a limited safety net for investors when their stocks are subject to severe volatility, they do not allow for a quick turnaround for stocks experiencing severe price decline events.     

Night trading and market quality: Evidence from Chinese and US precious metal futures markets

Given a dominant exchange, how should other exchanges set their trading hours? We examine the introduction of a night session by the Shanghai Futures Exchange, allowing trading concurrently with daytime trading at the Commodity Exchange in the United States. After developing hypotheses, results for gold and silver show: trading activity has increased; liquidity in Shanghai has risen and prices are less volatile at market opening; the price discovery share of Chinese gold futures has fallen but this is not a sign of weakening market quality; and volatility spillovers increase bidirectionally. Longer trading hours have decreased market segmentation and increased information flow.     

股利政策信息结构与股价行为研究

通过构建股利政策信息结构和时空两维股利信息模型,研究中国上市公司不同股利政策的信息结构、信息环境及其对波动性、市场深度和流动性等股价行为的影响。研究发现现金股利政策公告前,没有发现显著的信息性交易行为;股票股利政策公告前后,市场信息结构没有发生显著的变化;不分配利润的企业在公告前,出现了显著的由信息引起的交易行为;公司发布股利政策不仅能够传递公司价值的信息,而且公司价值信息的传递还与市场所处的信息环境密切相关,不同的信息环境、信息结构影响了信息作用于市场变量的变化路径。     

Liquidity and macroeconomic management in emerging markets

Emerging markets have received considerable attention for foreign investment and international diversification due to the possibility of higher earnings and a low level of integration with global equity markets. These high returns often need to be balanced by the high liquidity costs of trading in illiquid emerging markets. Several studies have shown that central bank and government policies are significant determinants of market liquidity. We investigate the influence of monetary and fiscal policy variables on the market and firm level liquidity of eight emerging stock markets of Asia. Using four different (il)liquidity measures and nine macroeconomic variables, we find that changes in the money supply, government expenditure and private borrowing significantly affect stock market liquidity. Illiquidity is also strongly affected by the bank rate, short-term interest rate and government borrowing. We demonstrate that ‘crowding out’ and ‘cost of funds’ effects exist in these markets. Other major findings are that some markets are more sensitive to local macroeconomic news than world factors, the impact on size based portfolios largely depends on the instruments used by the central banks and government, the liquidity of the manufacturing sector is affected by changes in any policy variables, financial institutions are only influenced by monetary policy variables, and the service sector is least affected.     

Cash trading and index futures price volatility

This study examines the effect of cash market liquidity on the volatility of stock index futures. Two facets of cash market liquidity are considered: (1) the level of liquidity trading proxied by the expected New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trading volume and (2) the noise composition of trading proxied by the average NYSE trading commission cost. Under the framework of spline–GARCH with a liquidity component, both the quarterly average commission cost and the quarterly expected NYSE volume are negatively associated with the ex ante daily volatility of S&P 500 and NYSE composite index futures. Conversely, liquidity and noise trading in the cash market both dampen futures price volatility, ceteris paribus. This negative association between secular cash trading liquidity and daily futures price volatility is amplified during times of market crisis. These results retain statistical significance and materiality after controlling for bid–ask bounce of futures prices and volume of traded futures contracts. This study establishes empirical evidence to affirm the conventional prediction of a liquidity–volatility relationship: the liquidity effect is secular and persistent across markets. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 31:465–486, 2011     

Has the introduction of S&P 500 ETF options led to improvements in price discovery of SPDRs?

This study sets out to investigate trading in Standard and Poor's Depository Receipt Trust Series I (SPDR) options and the impact on the price‐discovery process of SPDRs. The empirical results reveal a significant rise in liquidity within the SPDR market following the introduction of SPDR options. Furthermore, the results also show that the introduction of SPDR options has led to a significant improvement in the information share of SPDRs, and that the contribution of SPDRs to price discovery has become very close to that of E‐mini index futures. These findings imply that developments in the derivatives market can lead to improvements in market quality, including the level of liquidity and price discovery of the underlying securities. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 32:683–711, 2012     

Intraday Liquidity Provision by Trader Types in a Limit Order Market: Evidence from Taiwan Index Futures

This study examines the dynamic liquidity provision process by institutional and individual traders in the Taiwan index futures market, which is a pure limit order market. The empirical analysis obtains several interesting empirical results. We find that trader type affects liquidity provision in a number of interesting ways. First, although institutional traders use more limit orders than market orders, foreign institution (individual) traders use a relatively higher percentage of market (limit) orders in the early trading session and then switch to more limit (market) orders for the remainder of the day until close to the end of the trading day. Second, net limit order submissions by both institutional and individual traders are positively related to one‐period lagged transitory volatility and negatively related to informational volatility. Third, net limit order submissions by institutional traders are positively related to one‐period lagged spread. Finally, both the state of limit order book and order size significantly influence all types of traders’ strategy on submission of limit order versus market order during the intraday trading session. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 34:145–172, 2014     

Liquidity,exchange listing,and common stock performance

The liquidity of securities—the relationship between volume of trading and changes in market price—has won increasing recognition as an element of investment strategy in recent years. Relatively high liquidity is deemed to be a desirable characteristic of a stock, especially for the institutional investor, who typically trades in large volume. Thus, firms can generally be expected to seek means of enhancing the liquidity of their shares. One of the supposed means of accomplishing this is by listing one's stock on a national securities exchange. This paper examines the relationship of common stock liquidity to both exchange listing and price behavior during major up and down movements in the market. Our conceptual and empirical analyses indicate that liquidity is linked to price behavior; and we suggest that the view held by at least some corporate officers—that exchange listing increases liquidity—may be erroneous. More specifically, it appears that when the amount of firm capitalization is taken into account, exchange listing does not result in greater stock liquidity.     

A Leland model for delta hedging in central risk books

Using a tractable extension of the model of Leland (1985), we study how a delta-hedging strategy can realistically be implemented using market and limit orders in a centralized, automated market-making desk that integrates trading and liquidity provision for both options and their underlyings. In the continuous-time limit, the optimal limit-order exposure can be computed explicitly by a pointwise maximization. It is determined by the relative magnitudes of adverse selection, bid–ask spreads, and volatilities. The corresponding option price—from which the option can be replicated using market and limit orders—is characterized via a nonlinear PDE. Our results highlight the benefit of tactical liquidity provision for contrarian trading strategies, even for a trading desk that is not a competitive market maker. More generally, the paper also showcases how reduced-form models are competitive with “brute force” numerical approaches to market microstructure. Both the estimation of microstructure parameters and the simulation of the optimal trading strategy are made concrete and reconciled with real-life high frequency data.     

Hat die Einführung der Abgeltungsteuer Aktienkurse beeinflusst?

This paper discusses findings of a current research project whose results indicate that the implementation of the German flat withholding tax on capital gains at the turn of the year 2008–09 led to a temporary but significant increase in trading volumes and share prices on the German stock market. As this capital gains tax reform had already been announced in 2007, corresponding market reactions imply a delayed dissemination of tax information. Hence, our results raise some doubt regarding the information-processing capacity of stock markets. This holds true especially in the following circumstances: 1) extensive trading activities of individual investors with limited information access and attention; 2) a strong focus by a large group of individual investors to a limited number of trading days (herd behaviour); and 3) limited liquidity in the market (e.g. stocks with a small market capitalisation).