Core terms
Indicative price
The price at which an auction would execute if it ran at that moment, given the orders currently on the auction book. It can change until the auction runs.
Nasdaq publishes indicative prices in its imbalance messages before the Opening Cross (Rule 4752) and during the display-only period of a halt cross (Rule 4120(c)). Before the open, the far price uses only orders meant for the cross; the near price also includes continuous-book orders, so it is closer to where the cross would run if it ran now.
The indicative price is a snapshot. Imbalance-only orders can arrive until the cross and continuous-book orders can be cancelled, so a rising indicative price with a buy imbalance can still be followed by a lower open. During a LULD pause the reopening price falls inside auction collars; if the indicative price is outside the collar, the pause extends by five minutes (rule text as of 2026-10-05).
A stop does not take part in the auction as a price-protected order: it triggers on the first print and then meets the post-cross book.
What traders should verify
Log the indicative price and imbalance at your decision time next to the actual auction print, and plan any position held into a cross for the full range of opening or reopening prices.
Do not conflate
An indicative price is neither a quote nor a forecast; earlier indicative prices are past snapshots of a book that is still changing. Message names and fields differ by listing exchange, and NYSE and NYSE American run their own auctions.
Primary source
Primary sourceNasdaq Rule 4752, SEC Release No. 34-91096, Exhibit 5