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Contagious Margin Calls: How Covid-19 threatened global stock market liquidity

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  • Foley, Sean

    (Macquarie University, Australia)

  • Kwan, Amy

    (University of Sydney, Australia)

  • Philip, Richard

    (University of Sydney, Australia)

  • Ødegaard, Bernt Arne

    (University of Stavanger)

Abstract

The Covid-19 epidemic has caused some of the largest - and fastest - market dislocations in modern history. Contemporaneous with the significant fall in equity market values is the evaporation of market liquidity. We document the evolution of transactions costs, depth and rewards to liquidity suppliers across a variety of countries affected by the virus. We show that transactions costs increase sharply in a coordinated fashion across global markets, with depth drying up almost overnight. The withdrawal of global liquidity suppliers is correlated with the increase of over 400% in margin requirements, driving a pro-cyclical downwards liquidity spiral. These affects are shown to be concentrated in securities most exposed to electronic market-makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Foley, Sean & Kwan, Amy & Philip, Richard & Ødegaard, Bernt Arne, 2020. "Contagious Margin Calls: How Covid-19 threatened global stock market liquidity," UiS Working Papers in Economics and Finance 2020/1, University of Stavanger.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:stavef:2020_001
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    RePEc Biblio mentions

    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Economics of Welfare > Health Economics > Economics of Pandemics > Specific pandemics > Covid-19 > Economic consequences > Stock market

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    Cited by:

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    6. Petar-Pierre Matek & Maša Galiæ, 2024. "The impact of designated market-makers on liquidity in frontier markets: Evidence from Zagreb and Ljubljana Stock Exchanges," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 42(1), pages 95-121.
    7. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; Margin requirements; Stock market liquidity;
    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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