Time-Varying Periodicity in Intraday Volatility

Torben G. Andersen, Martin Thyrsgaard, Viktor Todorov*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

We develop a nonparametric test for whether return volatility exhibits time-varying intraday periodicity using a long time series of high-frequency data. Our null hypothesis, commonly adopted in work on volatility modeling, is that volatility follows a stationary process combined with a constant time-of-day periodic component. We construct time-of-day volatility estimates and studentize the high-frequency returns with these periodic components. If the intraday periodicity is invariant, then the distribution of the studentized returns should be identical across the trading day. Consequently, the test compares the empirical characteristic function of the studentized returns across the trading day. The limit distribution of the test depends on the error in recovering volatility from discrete return data and the empirical process error associated with estimating volatility moments through their sample counterparts. Critical values are computed via easy-to-implement simulation. In an empirical application to S&P 500 index returns, we find strong evidence for variation in the intraday volatility pattern driven in part by the current level of volatility. When volatility is elevated, the period preceding the market close constitutes a significantly higher fraction of the total daily integrated volatility than during low volatility regimes. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1695-1707
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of the American Statistical Association
Volume114
Issue number528
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2 2019

Funding

Andersen’s and Todorov’s research is partially supported by NSF grant SES-1530748. The authors thank anonymous referees for many helpful comments and suggestions.

Keywords

  • High-frequency data
  • Periodicity
  • Semimartingale
  • Specification test
  • Stochastic volatility

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistics and Probability
  • Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty

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