High-frequency trading

High-frequency trading is automated trading characterised by very short holding periods, high message rates and co-located infrastructure. It is a capability, not a strategy, and it is lawful. Most high-frequency activity is market making, arbitrage or execution.

Also known as HFT. market microstructure · updated 2026-11-06

See also

• Market maker — A market maker quotes both a bid and an ask continuously, earning the spread in exchange for supplying immediacy. Market making in…
• Latency arbitrage — Latency arbitrage is profiting from being able to act on a price change before slower participants can update their own quotes. It…
• Co-location — Co-location is renting rack space in or next to an exchange's data centre so that the physical distance to the matching engine is …

Terms that refer here

Co-location · Latency arbitrage

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