Price clustering on the limit-order book: Evidence from the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong

Hee Joon Ahn, Jun Cai*, Stephen Y L CHEUNG

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

43 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We examine the clustering pattern in trade and quote prices on the electronic limit order book of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). Earlier research into clustering focuses on transaction prices only. We study clustering on quote prices over a maximum of five queues on the limit order book. We observe an abnormally high frequency of even and integer prices in trade and quote prices for all tick size groups on the SEHK. The deeper quotes display stronger clustering than the best quotes, indicating that the farther away the quotes are from the best queue, the less information they carry. Our analysis further reveals that an extremely fine tick size itself works as a binding constraint to hinder the price resolution process. We also find that short sale prohibition imposed on the majority of stocks listed on the SEHK causes a significant bias in clustering towards the ask side of the limit order book. This implies that a short sale prohibition impairs efficient price discovery in the market.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)421-451
Number of pages31
JournalJournal of Financial Markets
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2005

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Finance
  • Economics and Econometrics

User-Defined Keywords

  • Asymmetry in price clustering
  • Electronic limit-order book
  • Price clustering
  • Short sale restrictions

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