Order imbalance

An order imbalance occurs when there are substantially more buy orders in a particular security than there are sell orders, or the reverse. The result is a wide spread between bid and ask prices.

A specialist on an exchange floor might ease a minor imbalance by purchasing shares if there was not enough demand or selling shares if there was more demand than supply.

However, major imbalances typically result in a suspension of trading until the situation that caused the imbalance is resolved. Either very good news about a company or very bad news may trigger an imbalance.