{"url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/","section":"academy","title":"How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV | ETFIQ","description":"Learn what an ETF share is, why its price and its NAV differ, and what keeps them close, using SPY's real trading data. Free, on real ETF data.","as_of":"Nov 9, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/#lesson","name":"How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV","description":"On 95% of the 251 trading days to Nov 9, 2026, SPY closed within 0.06% of its NAV, about $6 on $10,000.","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/","learningResourceType":"Lesson","teaches":"The difference between an ETF's market price and its NAV, and how authorized participants keep them close","educationalLevel":"Beginner","timeRequired":"PT6M","inLanguage":"en","isAccessibleForFree":true,"isPartOf":{"@type":"Course","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/#course","name":"Trading Basics","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/"},"position":1,"dateModified":"2026-11-09","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ETFIQ Research","url":"https://etfiq.com"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/#check","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"You buy an ETF share at 11 a.m. Who usually sells it to you?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Another investor or a trading firm, on the exchange. ETF shares trade between investors on an exchange all day."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"A fund's NAV is $50.00 and its shares trade at $50.25. What is this, and what could an AP do?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A 0.5% premium; an AP could create new shares and sell them. $0.25 \u00f7 $50.00 = 0.5% above NAV, so new shares sell for more than the basket costs, and the extra supply pulls the price down."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"SPY usually closed within 0.06% of its NAV. On a $10,000 purchase, what is that gap at most?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"$6. $10,000 \u00d7 0.06% = $10,000 \u00d7 0.0006 = $6."}}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academy","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trading Basics","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How an ETF trades","item":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV","description":"Learn what an ETF share is, why its price and its NAV differ, and what keeps them close, using SPY's real trading data. Free, on real ETF data.","url":"https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/","dateModified":"2026-11-09","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":5693,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Academy / Trading Basics / How an ETF trades \n \n How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV\n Data as of Nov 9, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night.\n On 95% of the 251 trading days to Nov 9, 2026 , SPY closed within 0.06% of its NAV, about $6 on $10,000.\n Trading Basics \u00b7 Lesson 1 of 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 \n Tap one of SPY's real marks, or slide your own, to see what you pay against what you get. Latest close (0.00%) Usual range (\u00b10.06%) Widest day (\u22120.49%) Amount you buy (hypothetical) $10,000 Price against NAV (hypothetical) 0.00% You pay $10,000 for $10,000 of holdings: no gap worth a dollar. Hypothetical amounts. SPY's marks as of Nov 9, 2026. Step 1: how far apart? On Nov 9, 2026 , SPY closed right at its NAV . On $10,000: $10,000 \u00d7 0.0000 = $0 . Step 2: was that a typical day? On 95% of the 251 trading days to then, SPY closed within 0.06% of its NAV. On $10,000: $10,000 \u00d7 0.0006 = $6 at most. Step 3: what was the worst day? The widest gap was 0.49% below NAV, on Jun 26, 2026 . It closed more than 1% away on 0 of the 251 days . On $10,000: $10,000 \u00d7 0.0049 = $49 . Step 4: who kept it close? In 32 of the 52 weeks to Nov 9, 2026 , APs created more SPY shares than they redeemed, adding $211.2bn in all. In the other 20 weeks they redeemed more, removing $195.1bn . Of the 41 firms signed up as SPY's APs, 26 created or redeemed shares in 2025 . That steady creating and redeeming holds price and NAV together. \n The question\n When I buy an ETF share, what am I paying for, and who sets the price?\n The idea\n An ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a basket of investments split into shares that trade on a stock exchange. Each share has two prices . The NAV (net asset value) is the basket's worth divided by the number of shares, worked out once a day after the market closes. The market price is what buyers and sellers agree on as they trade shares on the exchange, all day.\n The two stay close because of large trading firms called authorized participants (APs) . Only APs can create shares (hand the fund a full basket, get new ETF shares back) or redeem them (hand back shares, get the basket). Price above NAV (a premium): an AP buys the basket, swaps it for new shares, and sells them for more than the basket cost, keeping the difference. The extra shares for sale push the price down.\n Price below NAV (a discount): an AP buys cheap shares, redeems them, and sells the basket for more. Fewer shares for sale lets the price rise.\n \n Worked example\n The 4 steps beside the drawing at the top work this through on ETFIQ data. Point at a step to light the part of the drawing it describes.\n SPY is an ETF holding the companies in the S&P 500, an index of about 500 large US companies.\n The common mistake\n \"When I buy an ETF, the fund sells me a share at its NAV.\" That is how a mutual fund works. With an ETF you buy from another investor or a trading firm on the exchange, at the market price, which can sit a little above or below the NAV. For SPY the gap is tiny; lesson 4 shows a fund where it is not.\n Check your understanding\n Pick an answer to see why. Two of three right passes the lesson.\n 1. You buy an ETF share at 11 a.m. Who usually sells it to you? A The fund company, at the day's NAV B Another investor or a trading firm, on the exchange C The company that runs the index D An AP, which sells to every buyer Answer: B. Another investor or a trading firm, on the exchange. ETF shares trade between investors on an exchange all day. Not A: the fund deals only with APs; selling to you at NAV is how a mutual fund works. 2. A fund's NAV is $50.00 and its shares trade at $50.25. What is this, and what could an AP do? A A 0.5% premium; an AP could create new shares and sell them B A 0.5% discount; an AP could redeem shares with the fund C A 0.25% premium; nothing, because the gap is too small D A 0.5% discount; an AP could create new shares and sell them Answer: A. A 0.5% premium; an AP could create new shares and sell them. $0.25 \u00f7 $50.00 = 0.5% above NAV, so new shares sell for more than the basket costs, and the extra supply pulls the price down. Not B: the price is above the NAV, so it is a premium; redeeming fixes a discount. 3. SPY usually closed within 0.06% of its NAV. On a $10,000 purchase, what is that gap at most? A $0.60 B $6 C $60 D $600 Answer: B. $6 . $10,000 \u00d7 0.06% = $10,000 \u00d7 0.0006 = $6 . Not C: $60 would be a 0.6% gap, ten times wider than SPY's usual range. \n Takeaways\n An ETF share has two prices: the NAV (what the basket is worth) and the market price (what you actually pay). \n APs create and redeem shares to keep the two close; any fund's Trading tab shows how close. \n Turn any gap into dollars: multiply your amount by the percentage. \n Do it on ETFIQ\n See how your fund's price tracks its NAV Your fund \n Where to next\n Next lesson: Market, limit and stop orders: what each does to your price Trading Basics: all lessons The explainer behind this lesson ETFIQ Academy How ETFIQ computes these numbers \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV, data as of Nov 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/ Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV, data as of Nov 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/ APA ETFIQ. (Nov 9, 2026). How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/ Markdown [How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV (ETFIQ, Nov 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Data ETFIQ computes is free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, How an ETF trades: shares, price and NAV, data as of Nov 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/academy/trading-basics/how-an-etf-trades/"}