Intraday Trading Patterns and Day-of-the-Week in Stock Index Options Markets : Evidence from Emerging Markets

This article studies the intraday patterns of trading volume, volatility, and spreads and day-of-the-week variations for stock index options traded on the Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX). In addition, we examine the overnight variations in returns, volatility and spreads as well. We find that trading volume of TAIFEX options exhibit a U-shaped pattern. While the volatility at the market open is extremely volatile, the volatility quickly levels off for much of the rest of a trading. The bid-ask spreads pattern for TAIFEX options approximately follows a U-shaped pattern with a small hump immediately after 13:00 hours. The mean returns at Monday open for TAIFEX calls are lower while returns at the end of a trading day are larger. Calls have smaller overnight variations in volatility and bid-ask spreads compared to those in puts