How markets work
Closing price
The official price a security finished the session at, usually set by the closing auction.
How it works
The close is the reference price for almost everything: portfolio valuations, index levels, fund pricing, performance calculations and most chart data.
It is not simply the last trade. On most exchanges it is the auction price, which is deliberately harder to manipulate than a single final print would be.
Related terms
- AuctionA short period where orders are collected and matched at a single price, rather than continuously.
- Adjusted closeA historical closing price restated to account for dividends and splits, so returns compare fairly over time.
- Net asset valueThe value of everything a fund owns, minus what it owes, divided by the number of units.
- Market hoursThe window in which an exchange’s main continuous trading session runs.
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All 33 How markets work terms · The full glossary, 433 terms
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