Institutional Trading in Volatile Markets: Evidence from Chinese Stock Markets

Abstract

We investigate all listed firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock Exchanges on extreme market movement days over 2010 to 2017, and highlight the important role of price limit on post extreme day stock returns. Utilising daily cash flow data of the largest trading group as a proxy of institutional investors trading behaviour, we identify institutional investors’ consistently destabilizing effects on extreme days across two markets. We further show the upper (lower) price limit hitting stocks continue to increase (decrease) for at least two subsequent days, and find evidence of long run price reversal for lower hitting stocks. Finally we find the greater net buy by large traders the higher abnormal return in three subsequent days of the upper price limit hitting regular stocks, while the net sell on extreme days tend to predict the positive subsequent abnormal returns.

Keywords: Extreme market swings, Price limit, Cash flow, Institutional trading behavior

JEL Classification: G11, G12, G14, G28