Return Autocorrelations on Individual Stocks and Corresponding Futures: Evidence from Australian, Hong Kong, and United Kingdom Markets

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the daily relationships between returns on individual stocks and their corresponding futures contracts in Australian, Hong Kong, and United Kingdom markets. We find that, at the beginning of the life of a futures market, autocorrelation of futures returns is similar to that of individual stock returns. As the market becomes mature, the autocorrelation of futures returns behaves differently from the autocorrelation of stock returns. Through the linkage between return autocorrelations and trading volume, we find that a larger trading volume depresses the return autocorrelation and shrinks the differences of return autocorrelation between stock and its futures. In addition, futures trading volume has more significant impact on the patterns of return autocorrelations than the stock trading volume. The effect is non-linear in the sense that it is much more prominent during high futures trading periods. Summary of these findings suggests that the difference of return autocorrelations between an individual stock and its futures contract is due to low trading activities of futures.