Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?

A futures contract is an agreement between a seller and a buyer that calls for the seller to deliver to the buyer a specified quantity and grade of an identified commodity, at a fixed time in the future, and at a price agreed in the contract. Stock index futures contract specify an equity index as t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad, Hasan, Taufiq
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2000
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/1/Price_Efficiency_of_Stock_Index_Futures_Contracts.pdf
_version_ 1848839490660990976
author Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad
Hasan, Taufiq
author_facet Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad
Hasan, Taufiq
author_sort Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A futures contract is an agreement between a seller and a buyer that calls for the seller to deliver to the buyer a specified quantity and grade of an identified commodity, at a fixed time in the future, and at a price agreed in the contract. Stock index futures contract specify an equity index as the underlying asset. Arbitrage opportunity exists when the actual futures price deviates from the fair price by more than transactions costs. This study measures the arbitrage opportunities on the daily FKLI contracts price from calendar years 1996 through 1999. The pricing efficiency of the futures contracts was determined by the standard error between the closing actual and theoretical fair values for each month FKLI futures contract, where the theoretical value was estimated using the cost-of-carry model. The findings show that the actual futures prices do not converge towards theoretical prices with the passage of time. Arbitrage opportunities are related concepts. The fair price of a futures contract is determined by a pricing model that incorporates the value of the underlying cash asset, the time to expiration of the futures contract, the cost of financing the cash position, the cash inflows of the asset, and any special characteristics of the futures contract at expiration. In perfect markets - that is, when transactions costs and tax effects are not relevant - the actual futures price equals the fair price. Real futures markets are not perfect and there will always be opportunities to arbitrage the differences in the fair and actual prices of futures contracts and in the process aligning these prices, while earning arbitrage profits. The research issue addressed in this paper is whether arbitrage opportunities exists on the FKLI contracts and whether the futures market is price efficient over time.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T07:12:17Z
format Article
id upm-3297
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T07:12:17Z
publishDate 2000
publisher Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-32972015-09-10T11:04:45Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/ Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities? Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad Hasan, Taufiq A futures contract is an agreement between a seller and a buyer that calls for the seller to deliver to the buyer a specified quantity and grade of an identified commodity, at a fixed time in the future, and at a price agreed in the contract. Stock index futures contract specify an equity index as the underlying asset. Arbitrage opportunity exists when the actual futures price deviates from the fair price by more than transactions costs. This study measures the arbitrage opportunities on the daily FKLI contracts price from calendar years 1996 through 1999. The pricing efficiency of the futures contracts was determined by the standard error between the closing actual and theoretical fair values for each month FKLI futures contract, where the theoretical value was estimated using the cost-of-carry model. The findings show that the actual futures prices do not converge towards theoretical prices with the passage of time. Arbitrage opportunities are related concepts. The fair price of a futures contract is determined by a pricing model that incorporates the value of the underlying cash asset, the time to expiration of the futures contract, the cost of financing the cash position, the cash inflows of the asset, and any special characteristics of the futures contract at expiration. In perfect markets - that is, when transactions costs and tax effects are not relevant - the actual futures price equals the fair price. Real futures markets are not perfect and there will always be opportunities to arbitrage the differences in the fair and actual prices of futures contracts and in the process aligning these prices, while earning arbitrage profits. The research issue addressed in this paper is whether arbitrage opportunities exists on the FKLI contracts and whether the futures market is price efficient over time. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2000-09 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/1/Price_Efficiency_of_Stock_Index_Futures_Contracts.pdf Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad and Hasan, Taufiq (2000) Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities? Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 8 (2). pp. 115-122. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/view_archives.php?journal=JSSH-8-2-9
spellingShingle Ramadilli Mohd, Shamsher Mohamad
Hasan, Taufiq
Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
title Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
title_full Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
title_fullStr Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
title_full_unstemmed Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
title_short Price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
title_sort price efficiency of stock index futures contracts: are there any arbitrage opportunities?
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3297/1/Price_Efficiency_of_Stock_Index_Futures_Contracts.pdf