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Contagious margin calls: How COVID-19 threatened global stock market liquidity

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  • Foley, Sean
  • Kwan, Amy
  • Philip, Richard
  • Ødegaard, Bernt Arne

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused some of the largest – and fastest – market dislocations in modern history. During the outbreak, liquidity quickly evaporated in a coordinated fashion across global markets. We show that a sudden increase in margin requirements during the pandemic is correlated with the withdrawal of global liquidity providers. These effects are concentrated in securities most exposed to high-frequency market makers, consistent with the binding nature of increased capital constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Foley, Sean & Kwan, Amy & Philip, Richard & Ødegaard, Bernt Arne, 2022. "Contagious margin calls: How COVID-19 threatened global stock market liquidity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 59(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:59:y:2022:i:pa:s1386418121000628
    DOI: 10.1016/j.finmar.2021.100689
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    3. Farzami, Yasmine & Gregory-Allen, Russell & Molchanov, Alexander & Sehrish, Saba, 2021. "COVID-19 and the liquidity network," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    4. Liao Xu & Jilong Chen & Hao Xu, 2023. "Market sentiment to COVID‐19 and the Chinese stock market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S1), pages 1121-1135, April.
    5. Nguyen, Hung T. & Pham, Mia Hang & Truong, Cameron, 2023. "Leadership in a pandemic: Do more able managers keep firms out of trouble?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    6. Yang, Xin & Jin, Cheng & Huang, Chuangxia & Yang, Xiaoguang, 2023. "Network characteristics and stock liquidity:Evidence from the UK," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Pham, Linh & Karim, Sitara & Naeem, Muhammad Abubakr & Long, Cheng, 2022. "A tale of two tails among carbon prices, green and non-green cryptocurrencies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; Margin requirements; Stock market liquidity; liquidity spiral;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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