Quantitative trading relies on pre-defined strategies and uses market data APIs to fetch real-time stock quotes, allowing computer software to automatically execute stock trades. For individual investors, using the real-time stock API provided by brokers is essential for conducting quantitative trading under the limit order rules. Moreover, quantitative trading is not exclusive to institutions; even individuals or investors with small capital can participate.
With programming skills, individuals can fully develop their own quantitative trading systems, making trading more automated and significantly reducing time costs. In the A-share market, since it is not possible to directly connect to the exchange interface, individuals can use third-party trading interfaces to achieve programmatic trading. Languages such as Python, C++, PHP, Go, C#, and Java are commonly used.
Regarding market data, it covers both the trading market and the order book market, which together form the TAQ market. In China, there is a difference between stock tick data and snapshot data. Stock tick data records market information more comprehensively, while snapshot data is aggregated at certain intervals. In China, Level2 data may confuse the concepts of tick data and snapshot data. Additionally, stock APIs and historical K-line data also have their own roles and significance in quantitative trading.
Example of an API request
**iTick**: iTick is a data agency that provides reliable data source APIs for fintech companies and developers, covering Forex API, stock API, cryptocurrency API, index API, etc.
# It helps build innovative trading and analysis tools. Currently, there is a free package available that can basically meet the needs of individual quantitative developers.
# Open source stock data API address
https://github.com/itick-org
Apply for a free API key address
https://itick.org
const http = require('https');
const options = {
method: 'GET',
hostname: 'api.itick.org',
port: null,
path: '/stock/kline?region=hk&code=700.HK&kType=1',
headers: {
accept: 'application/json',
token: 'your_apikey'
}
};
const req = http.request(options, function (res) {
const chunks = [];
res.on('data', function (chunk) {
chunks.push(chunk);
});
res.on('end', function () {
const body = Buffer.concat(chunks);
console.log(body.toString());
});
});
req.end();
