Use of Different Trading Environments Around Interim Earnings Announcements on the Helsinki Stock Exchange

This paper tests the hypothesis that an anticipated information event affects the use of trading venues. Data from the Helsinki Stock Exchange are used where an upstairs market co-exists with a downstairs market. Trades are classified also as in-house trades and externalized trades. This paper suggests that interim earnings announcement affects where trades are executed. The results indicate that an anticipated announcement increases downstairs trading before the announcement event. Correspondingly trades in the upstairs market tend to decrease before the announcement. After the announcement upstairs trading recovers. Furthermore, the empirical findings suggest that the in-house trades in the upstairs market are positively related to the liquidity and volatility during the pre-announcement period. After the announcement the volatility association changes resulting in increased downstairs trading with high volatility