ISIBOR Osaigbovo Britney PhD
&
OHWOJERO Paul Efe
Department of Banking Finance, Faculty of Management Sciences
University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
For correspondence, email: osaigbovo.isibor@uniben.edu
Abstract
This paper examines market microstructure and high frequency trading (HFT) changes in pricing of assets in the Stock Markets, with particular reference to the Nigerian Stock Market. High frequency trading (HFT) is not just about speed, rather it is a reflection of fundamental changes on how markets operate coupled with the way traders carry out their trading activities. These changes have important implications for microstructure research and actual transaction process of how buyers and sellers find one another and agree on a price, which can affect price formation and trading volumes in a market. This high frequency trading (HFT) has been achieved to a large extent in Nigeria by the introduction of the automated trading system with bids and offers of securities now matched by stockbrokers on the trading floors of the Stock Exchange through a network of computers (under the Central Securities Clearing System). Secondary market transactions are now consummated by stock brokers through the use of computers within the hours of 11.00 a.m. till all bids and offers have been executed (about 1.30p.m. on the average) Thus, by recognizing that legitimate information about companies fundamentals may be unequally distributed between market participants; investors can no longer assume that prices will reflect information immediately even if all participants are rational. Both information risks due to asymmetric information and differences in liquidity and between companies, impact on long term equilibrium prices in the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Keywords: Market Microstructure, Trading Mechanisms, and Financial Market Regulations
