Try this...re-Open PhaseThe first phase of the market begins at...

Try this...
re-Open Phase

The first phase of the market begins at 7am (Sydney Time), where the market as a whole is placed into a Pre-Open state. Pre-Open means that orders can be entered, amended and cancelled.

You will find orders that ‘overlap’ in this period. This means Buy orders at a higher price than Sell orders, for example a stock may have a Buy order at $5, and a Sell order at $4. The Integrated Trading System (ITS), which is the Australian Securities Exchange’s (ASX) trading platform, will not trade these ‘overlapping’ orders. When a share opens for normal trading, these ‘overlapping’ orders will all trade at a single price known as the Match Price or Single Price Auction. The Match Price is continually updated as new orders enter the system.

How does ITS calculate the Match Price?

ITS looks at all the ‘overlapping’ orders that would be traded had the market been open. It then applies a single net price (Match Price) based on a number of factors which includes market volume, prices and buy or sell pressure.

All matching orders are traded at a single price, and there are no ‘overlapping’ orders remaining after the Single Price Auction has occurred.

The same formula is used to calculate:

* Opening prices at the start of each trading day
* Closing prices at the end of each trading day
* Float prices
* The price of a security after a trading halt or suspension has been lifted
* The price of a security after a new listing

Learn something new everyday :)