Price Discovery and the Cross-section of High-Frequency Trading
44 Pages Posted: 5 Dec 2012 Last revised: 12 Mar 2016
Date Written: March 11, 2016
Abstract
We quantify the price discovery contributions of high-frequency traders (HFTs) in the United Kingdom equity market and examine how it varies in their cross-section. For this, we group individual HFTs according to their liquidity taking/making activity. HFTs contribute about 14\% of all trade-induced information, with aggressive HFTs accounting for two-thirds of this contribution. This suggests that HFTs who pursue strategies that require the use of aggressive trades are most informed, as opposed to passive HFTs who more likely act as market-makers. However, information shares decline with the amount of aggressive volume, suggesting that these trading strategies are not scalable.
Keywords: High-Frequency Trading, Price Discovery
JEL Classification: G10
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation