Clustering of Trading Activity in the DAX Index Options Market

A common contention is that more liquid financial contracts draw trading volume from contracts for which they are close substitutes. This paper tests this hypothesis by analyzing clustering of trading activity in DAX index options. Contracts with identical maturities cluster around particular classes of strike prices. For example, options with strikes ending on 50 are less traded than options with strikes ending on 00. The degree of substitution between options with neighboring strikes depends on the strike price grid and options’ characteristics. Our empirical analysis finds a positive relation between clustering and substitutiability between option contracts, providing support to the initial hypothesis.