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Why does the bid-ask spread vary over the day?

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  • Eric Levin
  • Robert Wright

Abstract

This paper shows that the findings of Chan, Christie and Schultz (Journal of Business, 68, 1995) of no intraday variation in the average bid-ask spread is not general to all competitive markets, and in particular does not apply to the London Stock Exchange during the mandatory quote period. This is important because it revives the possibility of explanations of intraday variation in the bid-ask spread which involve individual market-makers widening their individual spreads for example in response to informed trading, inelastic demand or the need to discover prices at the start of the day. However there is no evidence of individual market makers widening their bid-ask quote spreads during the warm up and cool down periods at the start and the end of the trading day outwith the mandatory quote period. The only single explanation which might explain the whole day variation observed in the inside and the average bid-ask spreads both inside and outside of the mandatory quote is inventory control.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric Levin & Robert Wright, 1999. "Why does the bid-ask spread vary over the day?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(9), pages 563-567.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:6:y:1999:i:9:p:563-567
    DOI: 10.1080/135048599352600
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Foster, F Douglas & Viswanathan, S, 1990. "A Theory of the Interday Variations in Volume, Variance, and Trading Costs in Securities Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 3(4), pages 593-624.
    2. Allan W. Kleidon & Ingrid M. Werner, 1993. "Round-the-clock Trading: Evidence from U.K. Cross-Listed Securities," NBER Working Papers 4410, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Lee, Charles M C & Mucklow, Belinda & Ready, Mark J, 1993. "Spreads, Depths, and the Impact of Earnings Information: An Intraday Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(2), pages 345-374.
    4. Brock, William A. & Kleidon, Allan W., 1992. "Periodic market closure and trading volume : A model of intraday bids and asks," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 16(3-4), pages 451-489.
    5. Anat R. Admati, Paul Pfleiderer, 1988. "A Theory of Intraday Patterns: Volume and Price Variability," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 3-40.
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    Cited by:

    1. Charlie X. Cai & Robert Hudson & Kevin Keasey, 2004. "Intra Day Bid‐Ask Spreads, Trading Volume and Volatility: Recent Empirical Evidence from the London Stock Exchange," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5‐6), pages 647-676, June.

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