Does Index Futures Trading Reduce Volatility in the Chinese Stock Market? A Panel Data Evaluation Approach

This study investigates the effect of introducing index futures trading on the spot price volatility in the Chinese stock market. We employ a recently developed panel data policy evaluation approach (Hsiao, Ching, and Wan, 2011) to construct counterfactuals of the spot market volatility, based mainly on cross‐sectional correlations between the Chinese and international stock markets. This new method does not need to specify a particular regression or a time‐series model for the volatility process around the introduction date of index futures trading, and thus avoids the potential omitted variable bias caused by uncontrolled market factors in the existing literature. Our results provide empirical evidence that the introduction of index futures trading significantly reduces the volatility of the Chinese stock market, which is robust to different model selection criteria and various prediction approaches. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 33:1167–1190, 2013     

Market microstructure effects on volatility at the TAIFEX

This study examines whether changes in the frequency of market clearing or changes in trading hours on competing exchanges that use different auction systems affect the volatility of futures prices. In particular, this study exploits a natural experiment in the frequency of market clearing of stock index futures contracts traded on the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) to assess whether successive increases in the frequency of market clearing are associated with changes in the volatility of futures prices. The impact of changes in the trading hours on the TAIFEX and on the competing Singapore Exchange (SGX) where a similar Taiwanese stock index futures contract trades under a continuous auction market regime is also examined. The evidence for the impact of an increase in the frequency of market clearing on volatility is mixed. However, the introduction of simultaneous opening times for the TAIFEX (which batches orders at the open) and the SGX (which does not) is associated with a significant reduction in the volatility in SGX Taiwanese stock index futures prices. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 27:1219–1243, 2007     

Do individual index futures investors destabilize the underlying spot market?

This study investigates the impact of introducing index futures trading on the volatility of the underlying stock market. We exploit a unique institutional setting in which presumably uninformed individuals are the dominant trader type in the futures markets. This enables us to investigate the destabilization hypothesis more accurately than previous studies do and to provide evidence for or against the influence of individuals trading in index futures on spot market volatility. To overcome econometric shortcomings of the existing literature we employ a Markov‐switching‐GARCH approach to endogenously identify distinct volatility regimes. Our empirical evidence for Poland suggests that the introduction of index futures trading does not destabilize the spot market. This finding is robust across three stock market indices and is corroborated by further analysis of a control group. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 31:81–101, 2011     

The effect of spot and futures trading on stock index market volatility: A nonparametric approach

This article provides empirical evidence on the intraday relation between spot volatility and trading volume in the Spanish stock index futures market. GARCH methodology is used to estimate spot volatility. We analyze the potential relation between spot and futures trading volume and spot volatility by estimating the corresponding conditional density functions as proposed in Quah (1997). Our results reveal no significant link between those variables. Similar findings arise when expected and unexpected volume is considered. Our results suggest that derivative market is not a force behind episodes of significant spot jump volatility. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 23:841–858, 2003     

The effect of futures trading on the distribution of spot index returns: Implications for CVaR in the Spanish market

There is extensive empirical research on the potential destabilizing effects of futures trading activity on spot market volatility. Rather than just focusing on spot volatility, the authors deal with the contemporaneous relationship between futures trading volume and the overall probability distribution of spot market returns. Empirical evidence using intraday data from the Spanish stock index futures market over the period 2000–2002 is provided. Their findings reveal that the density function of spot return conditional to spot volume depends on unexpected futures trading volume.     

New evidence on expiration‐day effects using realized volatility: An intraday analysis for the Spanish stock exchange

Additional evidence is provided on expiration effects in the Ibex 35 stock index futures market using realized volatility as proposed by T. G. Andersen, T. Bollerslev, F. X. Diebold, and P. Labys (2003). Findings reveal not only a significant increase in spot trading activity, but also the existence of a significant jump in spot volatility at index futures expiration. Moreover, the importance of the data frequency considered is analyzed. Our research reveals that the use of GARCH methodology from daily data does not have the ability to statistically assess such expiration‐day effect. Additional empirical evidence is provided for the S&P 500 stock index futures market. Neither unconditional nor conditional realized volatility has a significant increase at expiration for the U.S. market, suggesting that this effect is specific for the Spanish market, at least for the period analyzed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 26:923–938, 2006     

我国推出股指期货对股票市场波动性影响的实证研究

本文以2006年11月1日至2010年12月27日的沪深300指数收盘价为原始数据,建立GARCH及EGARCH模型,进行实证研究,探究我国推出股指期货对股票市场波动性的影响。通过对该模型的分析,得出结论:股指期货在我国的推出,一定程度上降低了我国股票现货市场的波动性,对我国股票现货市场的健康发展起到了维稳作用。     

Intertemporal volatility and price interactions between Australian and Japanese spot and futures stock index markets

Previous studies have examined causality within and between different spot and futures markets with a motivation to discover market comovements, price leadership effects, and, more recently, volatility spillovers across markets. However, the empirical framework within which this is accomplished tends not to analyze explicitly foreign spillover effects upon a spot–futures relationship, which may significantly alter the equilibrium between these markets. This will then have a direct impact upon the estimation of dynamic risk adjustments that occur from the interaction between these markets. This article develops a quadvariate simultaneous-equation EC-ARCH model with an emphasis on volatility spillovers as a better alternative methodology to evaluate these relationships from a different perspective. This model is applied to examine the interaction between the Australian and Japanese spot and futures stock index markets, which allows for an Australian or Japanese futures trader to analyze the impact of foreign cash and futures markets, as well as the local cash market, on the local futures market in a single coherent framework. This type of analysis is not possible using previous paradigms, because they allow the trader only to examine the impact of local cash and foreign futures markets in separate settings. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 523–540, 1999     

股指期货如何影响股市稳定性?——对全球主要市场的三角度实证检验

以全球多个市场作为实证检验对象,从股市波动率变化、系统风险变化以及股市正反馈交易行为影响三个角度,分析股指期货市场稳定作用的含义,即对股市波动的影响及其作用表现,较为全面地解读股指期货的市场稳定作用。研究发现:三个角度都支持股指期货的市场稳定作用;而抑制正反馈交易的作用最为基础、直接和显著,是股指期货市场稳定作用的更为恰当的判断标准。     

Intraday price discovery and volatility transmission in stock index and stock index futures markets: Evidence from China

Using high‐frequency data, this study investigates intraday price discovery and volatility transmission between the Chinese stock index and the newly established stock index futures markets in China. Although the Chinese stock index started a sharp decline immediately after the stock index futures were introduced, the cash market is found to play a more dominant role in the price discovery process. The new stock index futures market does not function well in its price discovery performance at its infancy stage, apparently due to high barriers to entry into this emerging futures market. Based on a newly proposed theoretically consistent asymmetric GARCH model, the results uncover strong bidirectional dependence in the intraday volatility of both markets. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark     

Asymmetric covariance in spot‐futures markets

This article studies how the spot‐futures conditional covariance matrix responds to positive and negative innovations. The main results of the article are achieved by obtaining the Volatility Impulse Response Function (VIRF) for asymmetric multivariate GARCH structures, extending Lin (1997) findings for symmetric GARCH models. This theoretical result is general and can be applied to analyze covariance dynamics in any financial system. After testing how multivariate GARCH models clean up volatility asymmetries, the Asymmetric VIRF is computed for the Spanish stock index IBEX‐35 and its futures contract. The empirical results indicate that the spot‐futures variance system is more sensitive to negative than positive shocks, and that spot volatility shocks have much more impact on futures volatility than vice versa. Additionally, evidence is obtained showing that optimal hedge ratios are insensitive to the well‐known asymmetric volatility behavior in stock markets. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 23:1019–1046, 2003     

Does International Order Flow Contribute to Price Discovery in Futures Markets?

This study examines whether order flow originating from overseas contributes to price discovery in domestic futures markets. This issue is examined using a unique dataset for stock index futures traded on the Australian Securities Exchange that identifies the geographic location of computer servers on which orders are placed. We find that (i) transactions originating from overseas servers have a significant impact on the price volatility of stock index futures; (ii) trades initiated from international servers also have a permanent impact on price; and (iii) price movements caused by trades initiated from overseas servers lead those on domestic servers and make a greater contribution to price discovery. Our results confirm that international order flow is important in the price discovery process in domestic markets.     

Stock index futures trading and volatility in international equity markets

This article examines stock market volatility before and after the introduction of equity‐index futures trading in twenty‐five countries, using various models that account for asynchronous data, conditional heteroskedasticity, asymmetric volatility responses, and the joint dynamics of each country's index with the world‐market portfolio. We found that futures trading is related to an increase in conditional volatility in the United States and Japan, but in nearly every other country, we found either no significant effect or a volatility‐dampening effect. This result appears to be robust to model specification and is corroborated by further analysis of the relationship between volatility, trading volume, and open interest in stock futures. An increase in conditional covariance between country‐specific and world returns at the time of futures listing is also documented. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 20:661–685, 2000     

Price discovery and volatility spillovers in the DJIA index and futures markets

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is the most widely quoted stock index worldwide. This article examines the minute-by-minute price discovery process and volatility spillovers between the DJIA index and the index futures recently launched by the CBOT. The Hasbrouck (1995) cointegrating model suggests that most of the price discovery takes place at the futures market. However, by examining the volatility spillovers between the markets based on a bivariate EGARCH model, a significant bidirectional information flow is found. That is, innovations in one market can predict the future volatility in another market, but the futures market volatility-spillovers to the stock market more than vice versa. Both markets also exhibit asymmetric volatility effects, with bad news having a greater impact on volatility than good news. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 911–930, 1999     

Illiquidity transmission from spot to futures markets

We develop a model of illiquidity transmission from spot to futures markets that formalizes the derivative hedge theory of Cho and Engle (1999). The model shows that spot market illiquidity does not translate one to one to the futures market but, rather, interacts with price risk, liquidity risk, and the risk aversion of the market maker. The model's predictions are tested empirically with data from the stock market and markets for single-stock futures and index futures. The results support our model and show that the derivative hedge theory provides an explanation for the liquidity link between spot and futures markets.     

股指期货与股票市场波动性关系的实证研究

以日本的N225指数期货、韩国KOSPI200指数期货和我国台湾地区证交所加权指数(TWSE)期货作为样本,通过GARCH模型的序列建模,从样本总体和分阶段子样本分别对其股指期货推出与股票市场波动性的关系进行实证检验。结果表明,台湾地区的股票市场引入股指期货后现货市场的波动性并未受到影响,而日本和韩国股票市场在引入股指期货之后其波动性加剧,但这种波动性的加剧仅仅是短期性的,长期内并无影响。     

Price impact asymmetry of futures trades: Trade direction and trade size

By analyzing the high-quality intraday transaction dataset of KOSPI200 index futures contracts, one of the most actively traded index futures products in the world, this study examines price impact asymmetry between buyer- and seller-initiated trades and the difference in information content across the size of trades. To measure the permanent price impact incurred by each futures trade, which can be translated into the quality of information content of each trade, we use a modified version of the MRR model (Madhavan et al., 1997), which is appropriate for gauging the price impact and information content as well as analyzing the intraday price discovery issues that arise in purely order-driven markets.Consistent with the empirical results of previous studies on market microstructure issues in Korea's index derivatives market (i.e., KOSPI200 index futures and options market), we find that large trades generally incur greater permanent price impacts than small trades. This indicates that large trades generally have greater information content than the smaller ones. However, in contrast to the majority of empirical studies in this area, which have reported that buy trades are more informative than sell trades in global financial markets, we find that the permanent price impact of seller-initiated trades is clearly and substantially larger than that of buyer-initiated trades in the KOSPI200 futures market. This indicates that sell trades are more informed than buy trades in the index futures market, where informed investors can freely submit sell orders without any restrictions. The greater information content of sell trades is also apparent when trades are classified by their size. These results are quite remarkable considering that the sample period of this study (2003–2006) corresponds to a recovery period, during which the underlying stock index price and the futures price continued to increase.     

A further investigation of the lead–lag relationship between the spot market and stock index futures: Early evidence from Korea

In this article, we investigate possible lead and lag relationship in returns and volatilities between cash and futures markets in Korea. Utilizing intraday data from the newly established futures market in Korea, we find that the futures market leads the cash market by as long as 30 minutes. This result is consistent with previous studies for the U.S. and other countries’ futures markets. With regard to volatility interaction between spot and futures markets, we find that, unlike the above results for returns, a bidirectional causality is more prevalent between cash and futures markets, and this relationship is entirely sample dependent. We also find that the trading volume has significant explanatory power for volatility changes in both spot and futures markets. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 19: 217–232, 1999     

Causality in the VIX futures market

This study examines the price‐discovery function and information efficiency of a fast growing volatility futures market: the Chicago Board of Option Exchange VIX futures market. A linear Engle–Granger cointegration test with an error correction mechanism (ECM) shows that during the full sample period, VIX futures prices lead spot VIX index, which implies that the VIX futures market has some price‐discovery function. But a modified Baek and Brock nonlinear Granger test detects bi‐directional causality between VIX and VIX futures prices, suggesting that both spot and futures prices react simultaneously to new information. Quarter‐by‐quarter investigations show that, on average, the estimated parameters are not significantly different from zero, thus providing further evidence supporting information efficiency in the VIX futures market. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark     

Natural Selection and Market Efficiency in a Futures Market with Random Shocks

Even when participants know very little about their environment, the market itself, by serving as a selection process of information, promotes an efficient aggregate outcome. To emphasize the role of the market and the importance of natural selection rather than the strategic actions of participants, an evolutionary model of a commodity futures market is presented, in which there is a continual inflow of unsophisticated traders with predetermined distributions of prediction errors with respect to the fundamental value of the spot price. The market acts as a selection process by constantly shifting wealth from traders with less accurate information to those with more accurate information. Consequently, with probability 1, if the volatility of the underlying spot market is sufficiently small, the proportion of time that the futures price is sufficiently close to the fundamental value converges to one. Furthermore, the width of the interval containing the fundamental value, where the futures price eventually lies, increases as the volatility of the underlying spot market increases. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 21:489–516, 2001