IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v18y2009i4p154-163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unifractality and multifractality in the Italian stock market

Author

Listed:
  • Onali, Enrico
  • Goddard, John

Abstract

Tests for random walk behaviour in the Italian stock market are presented, based on an investigation of the fractal properties of the log return series for the Mibtel index. The random walk hypothesis is evaluated against alternatives accommodating either unifractality or multifractality. Critical values for the test statistics are generated using Monte Carlo simulations of random Gaussian innovations. Evidence is reported of multifractality, and the departure from random walk behaviour is statistically significant on standard criteria. The observed pattern is attributed primarily to fat tails in the return probability distribution, associated with volatility clustering in returns measured over various time scales.

Suggested Citation

  • Onali, Enrico & Goddard, John, 2009. "Unifractality and multifractality in the Italian stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 154-163, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:18:y:2009:i:4:p:154-163
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057-5219(09)00033-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laurent Calvet & Adlai Fisher, 2002. "Multifractality In Asset Returns: Theory And Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 381-406, August.
    2. Tóth, Bence & Kertész, János, 2006. "Increasing market efficiency: Evolution of cross-correlations of stock returns," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 360(2), pages 505-515.
    3. Kim, Kyungsik & Yoon, Seong-Min, 2004. "Multifractal features of financial markets," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 344(1), pages 272-278.
    4. Di Matteo, T. & Aste, T. & Dacorogna, M.M., 2003. "Scaling behaviors in differently developed markets," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 324(1), pages 183-188.
    5. Lo, Andrew W & MacKinlay, A Craig, 1990. "When Are Contrarian Profits Due to Stock Market Overreaction?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 3(2), pages 175-205.
    6. Cajueiro, Daniel O. & Tabak, Benjamin M., 2007. "Long-range dependence and multifractality in the term structure of LIBOR interest rates," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 373(C), pages 603-614.
    7. Greene, Myron T. & Fielitz, Bruce D., 1977. "Long-term dependence in common stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 339-349, May.
    8. Frennberg, Per & Hansson, Bjorn, 1993. "Testing the random walk hypothesis on Swedish stock prices: 1919-1990," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 175-191, February.
    9. Natividad Blasco & Cristina Del Rio & Rafael Santamaría, 1997. "The Random Walk Hypothesis in the Spanish Stock Market: 1980-1992," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 667-684.
    10. Bollerslev, Tim, 1986. "Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 307-327, April.
    11. Lee, Kyoung Eun & Lee, Jae Woo, 2007. "Probability distribution function and multiscaling properties in the Korean stock market," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 383(1), pages 65-70.
    12. Harry Markowitz, 1952. "Portfolio Selection," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 7(1), pages 77-91, March.
    13. Selçuk, Faruk & Gençay, Ramazan, 2006. "Intraday dynamics of stock market returns and volatility," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 367(C), pages 375-387.
    14. Baillie, Richard T. & Bollerslev, Tim & Mikkelsen, Hans Ole, 1996. "Fractionally integrated generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 3-30, September.
    15. Oświe¸cimka, P. & Kwapień, J. & Drożdż, S., 2005. "Multifractality in the stock market: price increments versus waiting times," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 347(C), pages 626-638.
    16. Marshall, Ben R. & Cahan, Rochester H., 2005. "Is technical analysis profitable on a stock market which has characteristics that suggest it may be inefficient?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 384-398, September.
    17. Norouzzadeh, P. & Jafari, G.R., 2005. "Application of multifractal measures to Tehran price index," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 356(2), pages 609-627.
    18. Groenewold, Nicolaas & Kan Tang, Sam Hak & Wu, Yanrui, 2008. "The profitability of regression-based trading rules for the Shanghai stock market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 411-430.
    19. Michael D. McKenzie, 2001. "Non‐periodic Australian Stock Market Cycles: Evidence from Rescaled Range Analysis," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 77(239), pages 393-406, December.
    20. Hoque, Hafiz A.A.B. & Kim, Jae H. & Pyun, Chong Soo, 2007. "A comparison of variance ratio tests of random walk: A case of Asian emerging stock markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 488-502.
    21. Grech, Dariusz & Pamuła, Grzegorz, 2008. "The local Hurst exponent of the financial time series in the vicinity of crashes on the Polish stock exchange market," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(16), pages 4299-4308.
    22. Fama, Eugene F, 1970. "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 383-417, May.
    23. Andrew W. Lo, A. Craig MacKinlay, 1988. "Stock Market Prices do not Follow Random Walks: Evidence from a Simple Specification Test," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 41-66.
    24. Kantelhardt, Jan W. & Zschiegner, Stephan A. & Koscielny-Bunde, Eva & Havlin, Shlomo & Bunde, Armin & Stanley, H.Eugene, 2002. "Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of nonstationary time series," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 316(1), pages 87-114.
    25. Poterba, James M. & Summers, Lawrence H., 1988. "Mean reversion in stock prices : Evidence and Implications," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 27-59, October.
    26. Lo, Andrew W, 1991. "Long-Term Memory in Stock Market Prices," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(5), pages 1279-1313, September.
    27. Cheung, Yin-Wong & Lai, Kon S, 1993. "Do Gold Market Returns Have Long Memory?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 28(2), pages 181-202, May.
    28. Opong, Kwaku K. & Mulholland, Gwyneth & Fox, Alan F. & Farahmand, Kambiz, 1999. "The behaviour of some UK equity indices: An application of Hurst and BDS tests1," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 267-282, September.
    29. Granger, C. W. J., 1980. "Long memory relationships and the aggregation of dynamic models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 227-238, October.
    30. Ané, Thierry & Ureche-Rangau, Loredana, 2008. "Does trading volume really explain stock returns volatility?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 216-235, July.
    31. Alvarez-Ramirez, Jose & Cisneros, Myriam & Ibarra-Valdez, Carlos & Soriano, Angel, 2002. "Multifractal Hurst analysis of crude oil prices," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 313(3), pages 651-670.
    32. Metghalchi, Massoud & Chang, Yung-Ho & Marcucci, Juri, 2008. "Is the Swedish stock market efficient? Evidence from some simple trading rules," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 475-490, June.
    33. T. Ane & L. Ureche-Rangau, 2008. "Does Trading Volume Really Explain Stock Returns Volatility ?," Post-Print hal-00260668, HAL.
    34. Martin Laurence & Francis Cai & Sun Qian, 1997. "Weak-form Efficiency and Causality Tests in Chinese Stock Markets," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 1(4), pages 291-307, December.
    35. Eisler, Z. & Kertész, J., 2004. "Multifractal model of asset returns with leverage effect," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 343(C), pages 603-622.
    36. Fama, Eugene F, et al, 1969. "The Adjustment of Stock Prices to New Information," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 10(1), pages 1-21, February.
    37. Natividad Blasco & Cristina Del Rio & Rafael Santamaría, 1997. "The Random Walk Hypothesis in the Spanish Stock Market: 1980–1992," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 667-684, June.
    38. Groenewold, Nicolaas & Tang, Sam Hak Kan & Wu, Yanrui, 2003. "The efficiency of the Chinese stock market and the role of the banks," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 593-609, August.
    39. Howe, John S. & Martin, Deryl W. & WoodJr., Bob G., 1999. "Much ado about nothing: Long-term memory in Pacific Rim equity markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 139-151, June.
    40. Barone, E., 1990. "The italian stock market : Efficiency and calendar anomalies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2-3), pages 483-510, August.
    41. Norouzzadeh, P. & Rahmani, B., 2006. "A multifractal detrended fluctuation description of Iranian rial–US dollar exchange rate," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 367(C), pages 328-336.
    42. Costa, Rogério L. & Vasconcelos, G.L., 2003. "Long-range correlations and nonstationarity in the Brazilian stock market," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 329(1), pages 231-248.
    43. Zoltan Eisler & Janos Kertesz, 2004. "Multifractal model of asset returns with leverage effect," Papers cond-mat/0403767, arXiv.org, revised May 2004.
    44. R. L. Costa & G. L. Vasconcelos, 2003. "Long-range correlations and nonstationarity in the Brazilian stock market," Papers cond-mat/0302342, arXiv.org.
    45. Benoit Mandelbrot & Adlai Fisher & Laurent Calvet, 1997. "A Multifractal Model of Asset Returns," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1164, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    46. Ayadi, O. Felix & Pyun, C. S., 1994. "An application of variance ratio test to the Korean securities market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 643-658, September.
    47. Cheung, Yin-Wong & Lai, Kon S., 1995. "A search for long memory in international stock market returns," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 597-615, August.
    48. Jorge L. Urrutia, 1995. "Tests Of Random Walk And Market Efficiency For Latin American Emerging Equity Markets," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 18(3), pages 299-309, September.
    49. Adlai Fisher & Laurent Calvet & Benoit Mandelbrot, 1997. "Multifractality of Deutschemark/US Dollar Exchange Rates," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1166, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    50. L. Kullmann & J. Kertesz & K. Kaski, 2002. "Time dependent cross correlations between different stock returns: A directed network of influence," Papers cond-mat/0203256, arXiv.org, revised May 2002.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Onali, Enrico & Goddard, John, 2011. "Are European equity markets efficient? New evidence from fractal analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 59-67, April.
    2. Goddard, John & Onali, Enrico, 2012. "Self-affinity in financial asset returns," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 1-11.
    3. Mynhardt, H. R. & Plastun, Alex & Makarenko, Inna, 2014. "Behavior of Financial Markets Efficiency During the Financial Market Crisis: 2007-2009," MPRA Paper 58942, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Wei, Yu & Wang, Yudong & Huang, Dengshi, 2011. "A copula–multifractal volatility hedging model for CSI 300 index futures," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(23), pages 4260-4272.
    5. Zunino, Luciano & Figliola, Alejandra & Tabak, Benjamin M. & Pérez, Darío G. & Garavaglia, Mario & Rosso, Osvaldo A., 2009. "Multifractal structure in Latin-American market indices," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 2331-2340.
    6. Akash P. POOJARI & Siva Kiran GUPTHA & G Raghavender RAJU, 2022. "Multifractal analysis of equities. Evidence from the emerging and frontier banking sectors," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(3(632), A), pages 61-80, Autumn.
    7. Leopoldo S'anchez-Cant'u & Carlos Arturo Soto-Campos & Andriy Kryvko, 2016. "Evidence of Self-Organization in Time Series of Capital Markets," Papers 1604.03996, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2017.
    8. Wang, Yudong & Wu, Chongfeng & Pan, Zhiyuan, 2011. "Multifractal detrending moving average analysis on the US Dollar exchange rates," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(20), pages 3512-3523.
    9. Cajueiro, Daniel O. & Tabak, Benjamin M., 2006. "Testing for predictability in equity returns for European transition markets," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 56-78, March.
    10. Vogl, Markus, 2023. "Hurst exponent dynamics of S&P 500 returns: Implications for market efficiency, long memory, multifractality and financial crises predictability by application of a nonlinear dynamics analysis framewo," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    11. Chen, Hongtao & Wu, Chongfeng, 2011. "Forecasting volatility in Shanghai and Shenzhen markets based on multifractal analysis," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(16), pages 2926-2935.
    12. Gerlich, Nikolas & Rostek, Stefan, 2015. "Estimating serial correlation and self-similarity in financial time series—A diversification approach with applications to high frequency data," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 434(C), pages 84-98.
    13. He, Shanshan & Wang, Yudong, 2017. "Revisiting the multifractality in stock returns and its modeling implications," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 467(C), pages 11-20.
    14. Ritesh Kumar Mishra & Sanjay Sehgal & N.R. Bhanumurthy, 2011. "A search for long‐range dependence and chaotic structure in Indian stock market," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 96-104, May.
    15. Fernando Rubio, 2005. "Eficiencia De Mercado, Administracion De Carteras De Fondos Y Behavioural Finance," Finance 0503028, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 23 Jul 2005.
    16. Choi, Sun-Yong, 2021. "Analysis of stock market efficiency during crisis periods in the US stock market: Differences between the global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 574(C).
    17. Zunino, L. & Tabak, B.M. & Figliola, A. & Pérez, D.G. & Garavaglia, M. & Rosso, O.A., 2008. "A multifractal approach for stock market inefficiency," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(26), pages 6558-6566.
    18. Segnon, Mawuli & Lux, Thomas, 2013. "Multifractal models in finance: Their origin, properties, and applications," Kiel Working Papers 1860, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    19. Juan Benjamín Duarte Duarte & Juan Manuel Mascare?nas P�rez-I�igo, 2014. "Comprobación de la eficiencia débil en los principales mercados financieros latinoamericanos," Estudios Gerenciales, Universidad Icesi.
    20. Liu, Yufang & Zhang, Weiguo & Fu, Junhui, 2016. "Binomial Markov-Switching Multifractal model with Skewed t innovations and applications to Chinese SSEC Index," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 462(C), pages 56-66.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:18:y:2009:i:4:p:154-163. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.