Learn the stock market › How to trade on the exchange › Lesson 4 of 6
Pre-market trading and the opening auction
Before 9:30
On the New York Stock Exchange, orders can be entered from 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and they queue until the opening auction at 9:30. For stocks listed elsewhere, NYSE's venues also run an early trading session from 7:00 a.m. That is pre-market trading: real trades, before regular hours. Whether you can take part depends on your broker.
The day ends in a similar way, with a closing auction at 4:00 p.m.
How the auction finds a price
An auction looks for the price where the most shares can trade. The numbers here are a made-up example.
| Price | Want to buy at this price or higher | Want to sell at this price or lower | Can trade |
|---|---|---|---|
| $52.00 | 0 | 1,400 | 0 |
| $51.00 | 200 | 800 | 200 |
| $50.00 | 500 | 400 | 400 |
| $49.00 | 900 | 100 | 100 |
| $48.00 | 1,400 | 0 | 0 |
At $50.00, 400 shares can change hands, more than at any other price. Every trade in the auction then happens at $50.00, even for someone who was ready to pay more.
How far from the close stocks open
Things happen overnight, and the open is the first time the whole market reacts. These are all the opens of 20 of the largest US companies from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 6, 2026, 5,020 in total, against the close the day before. Dividends and splits are taken out.
| From the close to the open | Share of opens |
|---|---|
| At most 0.5% | 45% |
| At most 1% | 70% |
| More than 2% | 11% |
The middle one is 0.57%. Visa on Nov 6, 2026 is one example: a close of $422.59 the day before, an open of $414.48, so −1.92%.
Companies differ. These are the three with the smallest and the three with the largest typical open.
| Company | Typical open |
|---|---|
| Berkshire Hathaway | 0.24% |
| Visa | 0.34% |
| Costco | 0.35% |
| Broadcom | 1.20% |
| Oracle | 1.29% |
| AMD | 1.51% |
And these are the year's largest jumps. The table says nothing about why. In general, earnings days are a common cause of large jumps.
| Company | Day | The open |
|---|---|---|
| Palantir | Aug 4, 2026 | +15.5% |
| AMD | May 6, 2026 | +15.3% |
| Broadcom | Jun 4, 2026 | −14.7% |
| Oracle | Dec 11, 2025 | −14.5% |
| Amazon | Jul 31, 2026 | +12.5% |
How often the price then goes back to the previous close is in Do gaps always fill?.
What it means for an order
A market order waiting at the open goes through at the opening price, which can be far from the last close. A limit order only goes through at your price or better. Before and after the open, the spread is often wider for a while.
Test yourself
In the opening auction someone is ready to pay up to $52, and the auction lands on $50. What does that buyer pay?
Sources
- New York Stock Exchange, Holidays & Trading Hours, read on 5 November 2026.
- Nasdaq, INET Nordic Auctions, read on 5 November 2026: how an auction price is found. US exchanges have their own detailed rules.