Hedging Efficiency and Influencing Factors in Diversified Financial Markets An Empirical Analysis Based on Futures of CSI 300 Index and Nikkei 225 Index

Under the background of the global financial market, with the close connection and mutual influence between the financial markets of various countries, risk management has become the focus of attention of investors and financial institutions. Especially in the face of complex and changeable market environment, how to effectively manage risks and ensure asset safety has become an urgent problem to be solved. As an important risk management tool, index futures play an irreplaceable role in the global financial market.This study focuses on China's CSI 300 index and Japan's Nikkei 225 index futures, and aims to provide scientific decision-making basis and risk management strategies for investors by comparing and analyzing their hedging efficiency and influencing factors under different financial environments. This study examines the hedging efficiency and its influencing factors in different financial environments. Using OLS, ECM, VaR models, the data from 1 January 2023 year to 11 July 2024 were analysed with the aim of accurately measuring hedging ratios and optimising cross-market asset allocation.It is found that the CSI 300 is significantly more efficient than the Nikkei 225 in hedging and the ECM model outperforms OLS in hedging performance.Both index futures are effective in reducing tail risk, but the tail risk is slightly higher for the Nikkei 225. Differences in market structure and investor behaviour are the key factors contributing to the different hedging efficiencies.