A Study of Efficiency of Index Futures, Lead-Lag Relationship, and Speed of Adjustments in India using High-Frequency Data

Authors

  •   Deepak Danak Professor (Finance Area), Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad - 382 481, Gujarat
  •   Nikunj Patel Assistant Professor (Finance Area) (Corresponding Author), Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad - 382 481, Gujarat

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2020/v14i4/151705

Keywords:

Futures Market

, Index Futures, Market Efficiency, High-Frequency Data, Co-Integration, Hedging

JEL Classification Codes

, G10, G14, G19.

Paper Submission Date

, September 24, 2019, Paper Sent Back for Revision, February 18, 2020, Paper Acceptance Date, March 10, 2020.

Abstract

We conducted a rigorous analysis to find out the speed of adjustments in futures and spot indices on NSE NIFTY 50 in short-run as a part of examining the efficiency of the financial futures market in India. Towards that, we undertook the analysis of long-run and short-run efficiencies separately and used Engle-Granger’s error correction mechanism (ECM) so that a clear picture of short-run efficiency in terms of speed of adjustments could emerge. The rigour manifested in the analysis of up to 412538 data points that bred from the choice of five different time intervals spanning from 1-minute to 120-minutes. Most of the price discovery took place in the futures market, and the spot market followed it mostly with a lag of 9 minutes. However, it took 35 minutes to completely return to the desired relationship once a drift had taken place. The increase in the speed of adjustments, as compared to the speed documented in previous studies, could be attributed to the large-scale adoption of the high-frequency (i.e. algorithmic) trading in recent times. Our findings suggested that traders can effectively use the near month contract of Nifty 50 Futures to hedge their open positions in the index or any other stock. At the same time, the market also offers an opportunity to arbitrageurs as the integration did not take place before 9 minutes.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Deepak Danak, Professor (Finance Area), Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad - 382 481, Gujarat

ORCID Id : 0000-0001-7362-9158

Nikunj Patel, Assistant Professor (Finance Area) (Corresponding Author), Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad - 382 481, Gujarat

ORCID Id : 0000-0003-0693-3349

Downloads

Published

2020-04-30

How to Cite

Danak, D., & Patel, N. (2020). A Study of Efficiency of Index Futures, Lead-Lag Relationship, and Speed of Adjustments in India using High-Frequency Data. Indian Journal of Finance, 14(4), 7–23. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2020/v14i4/151705

Issue

Section

Articles

References

Abhyankar, A. H. (1995). Return and volatility dynamics in the FT-SE 100 stock index and stock index futures markets. The Journal of Futures Markets, 15(4), 457-488. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fut.3990150405

Ashraf, S., &Baig, M. (2019). Is the Indian stock market efficiently inefficient ? An empirical investigation. Indian Journal of Finance, 13(7), 7-28. https://dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2019/v13i7/145532

Baillie, R. T. (1989). Econometric tests of rationality and market efficiency. Econometric Reviews, 8(2), 151-186. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07474938908800165

Barnhart, S. W., & Szakmary, A. C. (1991). Testing the unbiased forward rate hypothesis: Evidence on unit roots, co-integration, and stochastic coefficients. The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 26(2), 245-267. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2331268

Beck, S. E. (1994). Cointegration and market efficiency in commodities futures markets. Applied Economics, 26(3), 249-257. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036849400000006

Bhatia, S. (2007). Do the S&P CNX Nifty Index and Nifty futures really lead/lag ? Error correction model: A co-integration approach (NSE Research Paper). India : National Stock Exchange.

Brenner, R. J., & Kroner, K. F. (1995). Arbitrage, cointegration, and testing the unbiasedness hypothesis in financial markets. The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 30(1), 23-42. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2331251

Brooks, C., Rew, A. G., & Ritson, S. (2001). A trading strategy based on the lead-lag relationship between the spot index and futures contract for the FTSE 100. International Journal of Forecasting, 17(1), 31-44. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2070(00)00062-5

Chan, K. (1992). A further analysis of the lead-lag relationship between the cash market and stock index futures market. The Review of Financial Studies, 5(1), 123-152. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/5.1.123

Chowdhury, A. R. (1991). Futures market efficiency: Evidence from cointegration tests. The Journal of Futures Markets, 11(5), 577-589. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fut.3990110506

Debashish, S. S., & Mishra, B. (2008). Econometric analysis of lead-lag relationship between NSE Nifty and its derivatives contracts. Indian Management Studies Journal, 12(2), 81-100.

Dikshita& Singh, H. (2019). Estimating and forecasting volatility using ARIMA model: A study on NSE, India. Indian Journal of Finance, 13(5), 37-51. https://dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2019/v13i5/144184

Engle, R. F., & Granger, C. W. J. (1987). Co-integration and error correction : Representation, estimation, and testing. Econometrica, 55(02), 251-276. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1913236

Fama, E. F. (1970). Efficient capital markets: A review of theory and empirical work. The Journal of Finance, 25(2), 383-417. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2325486

Fassas, A. P., & Siriopoulos, C. (2019). Intraday price discovery and volatility spillovers in an emerging market. International Review of Economics & Finance, 59(C), 333-346. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2018.09.008

Frenkel, J. A. (1979). Further evidence on expectations and the demand for money during the German hyperinflation. Journal of Monetary Economics, 5(1), 81-96. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(79)90025-4

Gonzalo, J., & Lee, T. H. (1998). Pitfalls in testing for long-run relationships. Journal of Econometrics, 86(1), 129-154. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(97)00111-5

Goss, B. A. (1986). Rejection of unbiasedness is not rejection of market efficiency: Reply to Gilbert. Applied Economics, 18(11), 1167-1178. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036848600000070

Gupta, K., & Singh, B. (2009). Price discovery and arbitrage efficiency of Indian equity futures and cash markets (NSE Research Paper). Retrieved from https://www1.nseindia.com/content/research/res_paper_final185.pdf

Gwilym, O. A., & Buckle, M. (2001). The lead-lag relationship between the FTSE100 stock index and its derivative contracts. Applied Financial Economics, 11(4), 385-393. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/096031001300313947

Hakkio, C. S., & Rush, M. (1989). Market efficiency and cointegration: An application to the Sterling and Deutschemark exchange markets. Journal of International Money and Finance, 8(1), 75-88. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0261-5606(89)90015-6

Hao, J., Xiong, X., He, F., & Ma, F. (2019). Price discovery in the Chinese stock index futures market. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 55(13), 2982-2996. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2019.1598368

Herbst, A. F., McCormack, J. P., & West, E. N. (1987). Investigation of a lead-lag relationship between spot stock indices and their futures contracts. The Journal of Futures Markets, 7(4), 373-381. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fut.3990070403

Hjalmarsson, E., & Österholm, P. (2010). Testing for cointegration using the Johansen methodology when variables are near-integrated: Size distortions and partial remedies. Empirical Economics, 39(1), 51-76.

Huang, R. D. (1984). Some alternative tests of forward exchange rates as predictors of future spot rates. Journal of International Money and Finance, 3(2), 153-167. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0261-5606(84)90003-2

Inani, S. K. (2017). Price discovery in Indian stock index futures market: New evidence based on intraday data. International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 14(1), 23-43. https://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJICBM.2017.080758

Kaur, H., & Singh, R. (2019). Modelling volatility clustering and asymmetry: A study of Indian index futures markets. Indian Journal of Finance, 13(3), 51-65. https://dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2019/v13i3/142269

Kaura, R., Kishor, N., & Rajput, N. (2019). Arbitrage, error correction, and causality: Case of highly traded agricultural commodities in India. Indian Journal of Finance, 13(9), 7-21. https://dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2019/v13i9/147095

Laws, J., & Thompson, J. (2004). The efficiency of financial futures markets: Tests of prediction accuracy. European Journal of Operational Research, 155(2), 284-298. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0377-2217(03)00087-0

MacDonald, R., & Taylor, M. (1988). Metals prices, efficiency and cointegration: Some evidence from the London Metal Exchange. Bulletin of Economic Research, 40(3), 235-240. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8586.1988.tb00268.x

Mukherjee, K. N., & Mishra, R. K. (2006). Lead-lag relationship between equities, stock index futures market, and its variation around information release: Empirical evidence from India (NSE Research Paper). Retrieved from https://www1.nseindia.com/content/research/comppaper155.pdf

Nandan, T., Agrawal, P., & Jindal, S. (2015). An empirical investigation of mispricing in stock futures at the National Stock Exchange. Indian Journal of Finance, 9(9), 23-35. https://dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2015/v9i9/77193

Pathak, R., Ranajee, & Kumar, S. (2014). Price discovery in the equity derivatives market: A literature survey. Indian Journal of Finance, 8(6), 47-57. "

target=""_blank"">https://dx.doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2014/v8i6/71913

"

Raju, M. T., &Karande, K. (2003). Price discovery and volatility on NSE futures market. SEBI Bulletin, 1(3), 5-15.

Sadath, A., Hiremath, G. S., & Kamaiah, B. (2012). Do stock returns in India follow a random walk? The IUP Journal of Applied Economics, 11(2), 48-58.

Shankar, R. L., Sankar, G., & Kumar, K. (2015). Mispricing in single stock futures: Empirical examination of Indian market (NSE Research Paper WP/16/2015). Retrieved from https://www1.nseindia.com/research/content/res_WorkingPaper_Nov2015.pdf

Stock, J. H., & Watson, M. W. (1993). A simple estimator of cointegrating vectors in higher order integrated systems. Econometrica, 61 (4), 783-820. https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2951763

Vipul. (2005). Temporal variation in futures mispricing. Vikalpa, 30(4), 25-38.https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0256090920050403