The Hedging Effectiveness of Stock Index Futures: Evidence for the S&P CNX Nifty Index Traded in India

This study evaluates optimal hedge ratios and the hedging effectiveness of stock index futures. The optimal hedge ratios are estimated from the ordinary least square (OLS) regression model, the vector autoregression model (VAR), the vector error correction model (VECM) and multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (M-GARCH) models such as VAR-GARCH and VEC-GARCH using the S&P CNX Nifty index and its futures index. Hedging effectiveness is measured in terms of within sample and out of sample risk-return trade-off at various forecasting horizons. The analysis found that the VEC-GARCH time varying hedge ratio provides the greatest portfolio risk reduction and generates the highest portfolio returns.