Opening Cross: How Nasdaq Determines the Opening Price
The Opening Cross is Nasdaq’s auction process for determining a fair and orderly opening price for each listed security. By aggregating buy and sell interest before the market opens, the Opening Cross aims to match orders, reveal imbalances, and set a single opening price that reflects supply and demand.
How the Opening Cross works
- Nasdaq accepts orders in the pre-market period and consolidates them into an auction.
- The system seeks a single price that maximizes executable volume — matching as many buy and sell orders as possible at one price.
- As orders are entered or cancelled, Nasdaq updates visible information about the expected clearing price, the number of paired orders, and any buy/sell imbalance.
- Data about the auction is refreshed frequently (Nasdaq provides continuous electronic updates in the minutes before open).
Key times and order types
- Market-on-open (MOO) and other opening cross orders can be entered, changed, or canceled during the pre-market window (Nasdaq permits MOO order handling from roughly 7:30 a.m. until 9:28 a.m. ET).
- Nasdaq begins publishing order imbalance information for the Opening Cross at 9:28 a.m. ET on trading days.
- Orders submitted after 9:28 a.m. are treated as late regular-hours orders or imbalance-only orders and do not participate in the main auction.
- At 9:30 a.m. ET the opening trades are executed and regular trading begins.
Example (illustrative)
The system uses thresholds to define acceptable opening-price ranges and to limit extreme moves between the prior close and the opening. For example, if the midpoint of buy and sell interest is $105 and the exchange applies a 10% buffer, the acceptable opening-price range would be about $94.50–$115.50. As orders shift within that band, the auction refines the single opening price and reports updated balances.
Explore More Resources
Why a clear opening price matters
- Reduces volatility and uncertainty at the market open, a period that can otherwise be very active and disordered.
- Provides a transparent, uniform price signal that reflects overnight news and changes in investor sentiment.
- Narrows bid-ask spreads at the open, making it easier and potentially less costly for investors to trade immediately after the market opens.
Closing Cross
Nasdaq runs a similar auction at the close (the Closing Cross) to determine official closing prices and to match remaining buy and sell interest at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Practical takeaways
- Use MOO orders if you want to participate in the Opening Cross, but be aware of the submission and cancellation window (through about 9:28 a.m. ET).
- Check Nasdaq’s pre-open imbalance publications (starting at 9:28 a.m.) to gauge likely opening direction and liquidity.
- The Opening Cross helps ensure a more orderly market open by matching supply and demand and producing a single, transparent opening price.