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The role of private information in return volatility, bid-ask spreads and price levels in the foreign exchange market

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  • McGroarty, Frank
  • ap Gwilym, Owain
  • Thomas, Stephen

Abstract

Trading volume and order flow have both been closely associated with informed trader activity in the market microstructure literature. Using theory that explains regular intraday patterns in trading data, we transform these two variables into proxies for private information and examine their relationships with bid-ask spreads and return volatility. We use a unique and unusually rich high-frequency intraday dataset from the world's largest financial market, namely, the electronic inter-dealer spot foreign exchange market. Our analysis takes account of institutional features peculiar to this order-driven market. Our empirical results strongly affirm our theoretical understanding of how these markets work. They also reveal how the structure of the inter-dealer spot FX market affects exchange rate volatility. Finally, we also explore how private information contributes to the evolution of prices.

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  • McGroarty, Frank & ap Gwilym, Owain & Thomas, Stephen, 2009. "The role of private information in return volatility, bid-ask spreads and price levels in the foreign exchange market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 387-401, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:19:y:2009:i:2:p:387-401
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    2. Kitamura, Yoshihiro, 2016. "The probability of informed trading measured with price impact, price reversal, and volatility," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 77-90.
    3. McGroarty, Frank & ap Gwilym, Owain & Thomas, Steve, 2010. "Market structure and microstructure, in international interest rate futures markets," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 253-266, September.
    4. Wang, Jinghua & Ngene, Geoffrey M., 2020. "Does Bitcoin still own the dominant power? An intraday analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. M. Frömmel & F Van Gysegem, 2014. "Bid-Ask Spread Components on the Foreign Exchange Market: Quantifying the Risk Component," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 14/878, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    6. Eross, Andrea & McGroarty, Frank & Urquhart, Andrew & Wolfe, Simon, 2019. "The intraday dynamics of bitcoin," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 71-81.
    7. Rashmi Ranjan Paital & Naresh Kumar Sharma, 2016. "Bid-Ask Spreads, Trading Volume and Return Volatility: Intraday Evidence from Indian Stock Market," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 4(1), pages 24-40.
    8. Damien Wallace & Petko S. Kalev & Guanhua Lian, 2019. "The evolution of price discovery in us equity and derivatives markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(9), pages 1122-1136, September.
    9. Carol Alexander & Daniel F. Heck & Andreas Kaeck, 2022. "The Role of Binance in Bitcoin Volatility Transmission," Applied Mathematical Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 1-32, January.
    10. Esparcia, Carlos & Escribano, Ana & Jareño, Francisco, 2024. "Assessing the crypto market stability after the FTX collapse: A study of high frequency volatility and connectedness," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    11. Yoshihiro Kitamura, 2011. "The Impact of Order Flow on the Foreign Exchange Market: A Copula Approach," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 18(1), pages 1-31, March.
    12. Xin Yang & Shigang Wen & Zhifeng Liu & Cai Li & Chuangxia Huang, 2019. "Dynamic Properties of Foreign Exchange Complex Network," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-19, September.
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    14. Kitamura, Yoshihiro, 2016. "Does the simple microstructure model tell the time of the FX intervention? A one day analysis of the Japanese FX intervention," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 436-446.
    15. Wang, Jying-Nan & Liu, Hung-Chun & Hsu, Yuan-Teng, 2020. "Time-of-day periodicities of trading volume and volatility in Bitcoin exchange: Does the stock market matter?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    16. Yuanyuan Xu & Chongguang Li, 2018. "Liquidity of the Chinese Agricultural Futures Market and Its Impact on Futures Price—Based on High-Frequency Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.
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