The synchronized and long-lasting structural change on commodity markets: Evidence from high frequency data

Abstract

This paper analyses the co-movements between the US stock market and several commodity futures between 1998 and 2011. It computes dynamic conditional correlations at (i) 1-hour, (ii) 5-minute, (iii) 10-second, and (iv) 1-second frequencies and documents a synchronized structural break, characterized by correlations that have significantly departed from zero to positive territories, since late September 2008. Our results support the idea that high frequency trading and algorithmic strategies have an effect on the behaviour of commodity prices.