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The Evolution of Treasury Market Liquidity: Evidence from 30 Years of Limit Order Book Data

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Abstract

This paper uses order book and transactions data from the U.S. Treasury securities market to calculate daily liquidity measures for a thirty-year sample period (1991–2021). We then construct a daily index of liquidity from bid-ask spreads, quoted depth, and price impact, reflecting the fact that the varying measures capture different aspects of market liquidity. The index is highly correlated with liquidity proxies proposed in the literature, but is more sensitive to short-term drivers of liquidity, suggesting that it better measures contemporaneous liquidity (as opposed to expected future liquidity). In March 2020, in particular, the index peaks at a level commensurate with that seen during the 2007–09 global financial crisis, whereas the liquidity proxies peak at much lower levels. Significant drivers of market liquidity include announcements, implied volatility, and the extent to which high-frequency traders are present in the market.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Adrian & Michael J. Fleming & Erik Vogt, 2017. "The Evolution of Treasury Market Liquidity: Evidence from 30 Years of Limit Order Book Data," Staff Reports 827, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fednsr:827
    Note: Revised January 2023. Previous title: “An index of Treasury Market liquidity: 1991-2017”
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arvind Krishnamurthy & Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, 2012. "The Aggregate Demand for Treasury Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(2), pages 233-267.
    2. Tobias Adrian & Richard K. Crump & Erik Vogt, 2019. "Nonlinearity and Flight‐to‐Safety in the Risk‐Return Trade‐Off for Stocks and Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(4), pages 1931-1973, August.
    3. Erik Vogt & Michael Fleming & Or Shachar & Tobias Adrian, 2017. "Market Liquidity After the Financial Crisis," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 43-83, November.
    4. Goyenko, Ruslan & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Ukhov, Andrey, 2011. "The Term Structure of Bond Market Liquidity and Its Implications for Expected Bond Returns," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(1), pages 111-139, February.
    5. Duffee, Gregory R, 1996. "Idiosyncratic Variation of Treasury Bill Yields," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(2), pages 527-551, June.
    6. Grace Xing Hu & Jun Pan & Jiang Wang, 2013. "Noise as Information for Illiquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(6), pages 2341-2382, December.
    7. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Lasse Heje Pedersen, 2009. "Market Liquidity and Funding Liquidity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(6), pages 2201-2238, June.
    8. Goyenko, Ruslan Y. & Ukhov, Andrey D., 2009. "Stock and Bond Market Liquidity: A Long-Run Empirical Analysis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 189-212, February.
    9. Paolo Pasquariello & Clara Vega, 2007. "Informed and Strategic Order Flow in the Bond Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(6), pages 1975-2019, November.
    10. Michael J. Fleming, 2000. "The benchmark U.S. Treasury market: recent performance and possible alternatives," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Apr, pages 129-145.
    11. Boni, Leslie & Leach, Chris, 2004. "Expandable limit order markets," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 145-185, February.
    12. Francis A. Longstaff, 2004. "The Flight-to-Liquidity Premium in U.S. Treasury Bond Prices," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(3), pages 511-526, July.
    13. Mardi Dungey & Olan Henry & Michael Mckenzie, 2013. "Modeling trade duration in U.S. Treasury markets," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(9), pages 1431-1442, September.
    14. Michael W. Brandt & Kenneth A. Kavajecz, 2004. "Price Discovery in the U.S. Treasury Market: The Impact of Orderflow and Liquidity on the Yield Curve," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(6), pages 2623-2654, December.
    15. Michael J. Fleming & Eli M. Remolona, 1999. "Price Formation and Liquidity in the U.S. Treasury Market: The Response to Public Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(5), pages 1901-1915, October.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Making the Treasury Market Resilient
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2020-08-19 11:50:39

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    Cited by:

    1. Han, Gaofeng & Miao, Hui & Wang, Yabin, 2020. "Liquidity of China’s Government Bond Market: Measures and Driving Forces," MPRA Paper 104545, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Broto, Carmen & Lamas, Matías, 2020. "Is market liquidity less resilient after the financial crisis? Evidence for US Treasuries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 217-229.
    3. Livingston, Miles & Wu, Yanbin & Zhou, Lei, 2019. "The decline in idiosyncratic values of US Treasury securities," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Geromichalos, Athanasios & Jung, Kuk Mo & Lee, Seungduck & Carlos, Dillon, 2021. "A model of endogenous direct and indirect asset liquidity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    5. Daniel Borup & Jonas N. Eriksen & Mads M. Kjær & Martin Thyrsgaard, 2020. "Predicting bond return predictability," CREATES Research Papers 2020-09, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Treasury securities; market liquidity; index; low latency; electronification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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