the opening cross is a method the nasdaq uses to determine the opening price for stocks on its exchange this method takes data from the trading interest for a particular security two minutes before the market opens nasdaq makes this information available to all investors 
according to nasdaq the method for the opening and closing crosses gives all investors access to the same information and ensures their orders get the same treatment it also matches buyers and sellers to provide market liquidity that is investors can find buyers quickly if needed understanding the opening crossshare prices can change anytime even when a stock exchange like the nasdaq is closed events and news can come out when it s not open which causes a stock to open lower or higher in the morning than its previous day s closing price as a result many retail and even professional traders won t execute orders too close to the opening or closing of a market especially with market orders which are executed immediately fearing volatility either up or down the opening cross tries to limit this volatility by reflecting the change in sentiment for a stock since the previous day s close this prevents surprises shortly after the nasdaq opens typically one of the most active trading periods investors can then have greater confidence that quoted prices fairly reflect supply and demand during the first minutes of the trading day 