High-frequency lead-lag relationships in the Chinese stock index futures market: tick-by-tick dynamics of calendar spreads

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Li, Guanlin, Chen, Xiyan, Liu, Yingzheng
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Li, Guanlin
Chen, Xiyan
Liu, Yingzheng
author_facet Li, Guanlin
Chen, Xiyan
Liu, Yingzheng
contents Lead-lag relationships, integral to market dynamics, offer valuable insights into the trading behavior of high-frequency traders (HFTs) and the flow of information at a granular level. This paper investigates the lead-lag relationships between stock index futures contracts of different maturities in the Chinese financial futures market (CFFEX). Using high-frequency (tick-by-tick) data, we analyze how price movements in near-month futures contracts influence those in longer-dated contracts, such as next-month, quarterly, and semi-annual contracts. Our findings reveal a consistent pattern of price discovery, with the near-month contract leading the others by one tick, driven primarily by liquidity. Additionally, we identify a negative feedback effect of the "lead-lag spread" on the leading asset, which can predict returns of leading asset. Backtesting results demonstrate the profitability of trading based on the lead-lag spread signal, even after accounting for transaction costs. Altogether, our analysis offers valuable insights to understand and capitalize on the evolving dynamics of futures markets.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_03171
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle High-frequency lead-lag relationships in the Chinese stock index futures market: tick-by-tick dynamics of calendar spreads
Li, Guanlin
Chen, Xiyan
Liu, Yingzheng
Computational Finance
Statistical Finance
Applications
Lead-lag relationships, integral to market dynamics, offer valuable insights into the trading behavior of high-frequency traders (HFTs) and the flow of information at a granular level. This paper investigates the lead-lag relationships between stock index futures contracts of different maturities in the Chinese financial futures market (CFFEX). Using high-frequency (tick-by-tick) data, we analyze how price movements in near-month futures contracts influence those in longer-dated contracts, such as next-month, quarterly, and semi-annual contracts. Our findings reveal a consistent pattern of price discovery, with the near-month contract leading the others by one tick, driven primarily by liquidity. Additionally, we identify a negative feedback effect of the "lead-lag spread" on the leading asset, which can predict returns of leading asset. Backtesting results demonstrate the profitability of trading based on the lead-lag spread signal, even after accounting for transaction costs. Altogether, our analysis offers valuable insights to understand and capitalize on the evolving dynamics of futures markets.
title High-frequency lead-lag relationships in the Chinese stock index futures market: tick-by-tick dynamics of calendar spreads
topic Computational Finance
Statistical Finance
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.03171