Quote increment changed to 1 penny. Allows spreads to narrow. Improve Nasdaq order routing facility, display more trading interest on screen, provide more efficient order interaction. Nasdaq becomes more transparent and efficient. The Result of this Commitment has been a Continuous Reduction in Spreads for Investors As the table below shows, the average relative spread on the Nasdaq market has fallen substantially and nearly continuously in recent years.
Relative spread is the ratio of the quoted spread to the price of the stock.
At this time, the spread for a typical share traded on Nasdaq is only 14 cents. However, the above comparison excluded large NYSE floor orders and did not measure the time that these orders may have spent being handled by an NYSE member firm upstairs in its trading room. The NYSE orders that were included were the relatively easy SuperDot orders. Thus, the execution time data, for large orders especially, deserves further investigation. More capital is committed to Nasdaq stocks through the participation of multiple Market Makers.