The NASDAQ Opening Cross is a fully transparent process for determining the opening price of stocks on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
NASDAQ makes transparent all bids and asks for a stock in the minutes leading up to the market's opening bell, allowing traders to adjust their orders to any imbalances. The electronic system then settles on a single opening price that is reflective of supply and demand for that security, which is the stock's price when trading begins at 9:30 AM EST.