Multifractality and long memory of a financial index

In this paper we will try to assess the multifractality displayed by the high-frequency returns of Madrid’s Stock Exchange Ibex35 index. A Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis shows that this index has a wide singularity spectrum which is most likely caused by its long-memory. Our findings also show that this long-memory can be considered as the superposition of a high-frequency component–related to the daily cycles of arrival of information to the market–over a slowly-varying component that reverberates for long periods of time and which shows no apparent relation with human/economic cycles. This latter component is therefore postulated to be endogenous to market’s dynamics and to be also the most probable source of some of the stylized facts commonly associated with financial time-series.