Auction Overhaul: NYSE Arca Tweaks Prices for Smoother Trading
Published Date: 2/20/2026
Notice
Summary
NYSE Arca is updating how it calculates auction prices to better match real market moves during opening, halts, and closing auctions. This change helps traders see clearer, fairer prices in fast-changing markets and kicks in right away with no extra costs. Anyone trading on NYSE Arca will notice smoother price signals during these key auction moments.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Auctions use recent last-sale price
The Exchange will change how it sets the Auction Reference Price for the Core Open Auction to consider the price of the last consolidated trade of at least one round lot on that trading day. If there is no such trade, the rule still falls back to the midpoint of the Auction NBBO, a locked price if the NBBO is locked, or the prior trading day's Official Closing Price for the initial calculation; subsequent calculations may use the most recently calculated Auction Reference Price.
Exclude early/late TRF trades from auctions
Auction Reference Price calculations for the Core Open Auction, Closing Auction, and Trading Halt Auction will exclude trades reported on Trade Reporting Facilities during the Early Trading Session or Late Trading Session. This means those reported trades will not be used as benchmarks when the Exchange computes auction reference prices.
Implementation announced; target Q3 2026
The Exchange will announce the implementation date of these auction calculation changes by Trader Update and anticipates implementing the changes no later than the third quarter of 2026. The rule change was filed on February 6, 2026 and was submitted under the immediate-effectiveness procedure.
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