Bid and Offer prices

[justasx]

Unless I'm mistaken (forgive me), then Bid price is the price a buyer is willing to pay for a stock, while Offer price is what a seller is willing to let the stock go for.

If that is the case, then why would I see Bid price being higher than the Offer?

I was looking at my watchlist today, which I"ve set up on MyASX, and noticed in the early afternoon that practically of my stocks had Bid prices higher than Offer prices.

 

[sleeper88]

closing auction

 

[cuttlefish]

at the start and end of day there is a period of time called the open price and closing price auctions. during this time all offers and bids are put on hold and then at the end of the period a formula is used based on the overlapping bids and offers to come up with an 'opening' price and a 'closing' price. The purpose is to prevent deliberate manipulation of the opening and closing prices and to provide an orderly open and close to the market. You were probably looking at your stocks between 4 and 4:10 p.m.

 

[justasx]

ooph! And I thought I was seeing things! Yes, it would have been around 4pm (3pm my time) when I peeked at it.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[bingk6]

at the start and end of day there is a period of time called the open price and closing price auctions. during this time all offers and bids are put on hold and then at the end of the period a formula is used based on the overlapping bids and offers to come up with an 'opening' price and a 'closing' price. The purpose is to prevent deliberate manipulation of the opening and closing prices and to provide an orderly open and close to the market. You were probably looking at your stocks between 4 and 4:10 p.m.

Hi Cuttlefish,

Can you recommend a website that explains this auctioning process in greater detail?

 

[kaveman]

try this
http://www.asx.com.au/investor/education/basics/open_Close.htm

 

[bingk6]

try this
http://www.asx.com.au/investor/education/basics/open_Close.htm

Thanks Kave