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Arbitrage in the foreign exchange market: Turning on the microscope

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Author Info
Q. Farooq Akram, () (Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway))
Dagfinn Rime () (Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway))
Lucio Sarno (University of Warwick and CEPR)

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Abstract

This paper investigates the presence and characteristics of arbitrage opportunities in the foreign exchange market using a unique data set for three major capital and foreign exchange markets that covers a period of more than seven months at tick frequency, obtained from Reuters on special order. We provide evidence on the fre- quency, size and duration of round-trip and one-way arbitrage opportunities in real time. The analysis unveils the existence of numerous short-lived arbitrage oppor- tunities, whose size is economically significant across exchange rates and comparable across different maturities of the instruments involved in arbitrage. The duration of arbitrage opportunities is, on average, high enough to allow agents to exploit devia- tions from the law of one price, but low enough to explain why such opportunities have gone undetected in much previous research using data at lower frequency.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Norges Bank in its series Working Paper with number 2005/12.

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Length: 43 pages
Date of creation: 09 Nov 2005
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Handle: RePEc:bno:worpap:2005_12

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Related research
Keywords: exchange rates; arbitrage; foreign exchange microstructure;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies
G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Naohiko Baba & Frank Packer, 2009. "From turmoil to crisis: dislocations in the FX swap market before and after the failure of Lehman Brothers," BIS Working Papers 285, Bank for International Settlements. [Downloadable!]
  2. Emmanuel Farhi & Samuel Paul Fraiberger & Xavier Gabaix & Romain Ranciere & Adrien Verdelhan, 2009. "Crash Risk in Currency Markets," NBER Working Papers 15062, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Mende, Alexander & Menkhoff, Lukas, 2006. "Profits and Speculation in Intra-Day Foreign Exchange Trading," Diskussionspapiere der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Hannover dp-339, Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Wai-Ming Fong & Giorgio Valente & Joseph K.W. Fung, 2008. "FX Arbitrage and Market Liquidity: Statistical Significance and Economic Value," Working Papers 082008, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research. [Downloadable!]
  5. Rime, Dagfinn & Sarno, Lucio & Sojli, Elvira, 2009. "Exchange Rate Forecasting, Order Flow and Macroeconomic Information," CEPR Discussion Papers 7225, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Menkhoff, Lukas & Sarno, Lucio & Schmeling, Maik & Schrimpf, Andreas, 2009. "Carry Trades and Global FX Volatility," MPRA Paper 14728, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  7. Naohiko Baba & Frank Packer, 2008. "Interpreting deviations from covered interest parity during the financial market turmoil of 2007-08," BIS Working Papers 267, Bank for International Settlements. [Downloadable!]
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