A market set-up that processes collected buy and sell orders for a given stock which are analyzed to establish the proper clearing price for determination of the market price. The clearing price reflects the price level at which the largest number of stocks can be cleared. This market setting is a perfectly competitive market where prices adjust so that supply and demand converge to an equilibrium point.
This is similar to the process of determining opening prices at certain exchanges. It takes place before the opening bell where orders for a particular security are collected and then checked by a specialist will pick the price that will clear the greatest number of these orders.
It is also known as a call market.
