NYSE Sharpens Auction Price Calculations for Fairness
Published Date: 2/23/2026
Notice
Summary
The New York Stock Exchange is updating how it calculates prices during opening and trading halt auctions to make them more accurate. These changes affect traders and market makers who rely on these auctions to set fair prices. The new rules took effect right after filing on February 6, 2026, aiming to improve market fairness without changing fees.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Dynamic Opening and Halt Reference Prices
If you trade or make markets on the NYSE, the Exchange will use new dynamic reference prices called an Opening Reference Price and a Trading Halt Reference Price when setting auction benchmarks. The Opening Reference Price will use the last consolidated trade of at least one round lot that day or, if none, the midpoint of the Auction NBBO (or the locked price), and if still none, the prior trading day's Official Closing Price; calculations will exclude trades on Trade Reporting Facilities during the Early Trading Session (ETS) or Late Trading Session (LTS).
New Reference Prices Used for Auction Indicators
The Opening Reference Price and Trading Halt Reference Price will be used to decide whether an auction price is at a price disparity and whether to publish pre-opening indications, and they will serve as the Imbalance Reference Price for Core Open and Trading Halt Auctions. The Exchange also will not disseminate Auction Imbalance Information for a Core Open if there is no Opening Reference Price, or for a Trading Halt Auction if there is no Trading Halt Reference Price.
Exchange-Facilitated Auctions Use Opening Price
For Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions, the Auction Reference Price will be replaced with the Opening Reference Price as defined under Rule 7.35A(a). This changes the prior benchmark (midpoint of the Auction NBBO or prior day's Official Closing Price) to the new dynamic Opening Reference Price when the Exchange runs the auction.
No Fee Change; Implementation Timing
The Exchange states these rule changes aim to improve fairness without changing fees. The proposed rule change was filed and became effective on February 6, 2026, and the Exchange expects to implement the related technology changes and announce an implementation date by Trader Update, no later than the third quarter of 2026.
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