SPY bid-ask spread and liquidity

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust
StocksState Street$810.5bn net assets0.09% fee
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As of Oct 22, 2026, SPY closed +0.02% from its NAV, and on 95% of the 251 days to then it was within ±0.06%.

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Ask IQ about SPY bid-ask spread and liquidity

Answers cite the figures on this page.

OverviewHoldingsDividendsTradingFlowsCompare

IQ Liquidity Score

4 of 6 measured · Oct 22, 2026
·
Not scored
0 · Hard to trade100 · Trades like a giant

The IQ Liquidity Score: a fixed 0 to 100 scale of trading conditions, the same anchors for every fund; 100 is the easiest to trade. It measures how cheaply and reliably the fund trades, not whether to own it. Method →

Cost to trade
Not measured · the issuer's 30-day median spread is not read for this fund
·
Capacity
Holdings can absorb $14.3bn a day, Oct 22, 2026
100.0
Price fidelity
95% of days within ±0.06% of NAV, 251 days to Oct 22, 2026
100.0
Primary market
26 active dealers of 41; largest 38% of creations and redemptions, N-CEN to Dec 31, 2025
100.0
Bad-day behaviour
Premium 1× normal on the 10 worst S&P 500 days, to Oct 22, 2026
100.0
Depth
Not measured · needs trade and quote data (Phase 2)
·

Premium or discount to value

Daily, 251 days to Oct 22, 2026 · the ±1% band marked
SPY premium or discount to NAV, 251 days+1%0−1%Oct 23, 2025Oct 22, 2026
Latest close, Oct 22
+0.02%
95% of days within
±0.06%
Days more than 1% from NAV
0 of 251
Widest
−0.49%, Jun 26, 2026

Close against the NAV its issuer struck the same day, from the issuer. Source: ETFIQ.

Capacity

What the holdings can absorb a day, at 10% of each one’s volume
Holdings can absorb
$14.3bn

SPY’s holdings can absorb $14.3bn a day, measured on its own holdings, as of Oct 22, 2026. A $1m order is 0.0070% of a day’s capacity.

The holding that sets the limit: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CL B (BRK-B), 1.54% of the fund, $2.2bn a day traded, the median of 20 days to Oct 22, 2026. Capacity is the least of the holding-level ratios over the holdings making up 95% of the weight.

Dealers

Authorized participants · N-CEN, the year to Dec 31, 2025
Active dealers
26
of 41 authorized
Largest
38%
of creations and redemptions
One dealer
No
26 active

26 of 41 authorized participants created or redeemed SPY shares in the year to Dec 31, 2025. From the fund’s Form N-CEN, filed Mar 13, 2026.

The active authorized participants, largest first, by share of the dollars created and redeemed: Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. (38.5%), ABN AMRO Clearing USA LLC (14.8%), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (11.7%), Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (8.3%), J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (5.7%), Barclays Capital Inc. (5.0%), BNP Paribas Prime Brokerage, Inc. (4.7%), SG Americas Securities, LLC (3.7%), RBC Capital Markets, LLC (1.8%), Mizuho Securities USA LLC (1.5%), Mirae Asset Securities (USA) Inc. (0.7%), Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (0.6%), HRT Financial LP (0.6%), Citadel Securities LLC (0.5%), UBS Securities LLC (0.5%), Virtu Americas LLC (0.4%), Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. (0.2%), CIBC World Markets Corp. (0.2%), Jane Street Capital, LLC (0.2%), Wells Fargo Securities, LLC (0.1%), Nomura Securities International, Inc. (0.1%), BMO Capital Markets Corp. (0.1%), Cowen Execution Services LLC (0.1%), HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. (0.0%), Pershing LLC (0.0%), Natixis Securities Americas LLC (0.0%). 15 more were listed and created or redeemed nothing.

Creations and redemptions

By week, 52 weeks to Oct 22, 2026
Oct 27 2025Each week’s net creations (green) and redemptionsOct 22 2026

$223.6bn net created in 33 weeks and $186.0bn net redeemed in 19, over the 52 weeks from Oct 27, 2025 to Oct 22, 2026, from the change in its shares outstanding.

How to trade SPY

To buy or to sell, up to $100,000
When
ETF spreads are usually widest in the first minutes after the open and the last before the close.
Size
Up to $143m is 1% of what its holdings can absorb in a day, for a buy or a sell.
Watch
The premium. On 95% of days it is within ±0.06%; beyond that a buyer pays more, and a seller gets less, than the holdings are worth.
Phase 2 · drawn now, filled when trade data arrives
Spread through the dayComing with trade data

Median spread by half hour, 30 days.

Buyers against sellersComing with trade data

Share of volume at the ask against at the bid.

Retail flow, estimatedComing with trade data

Sub-penny prints as a share of volume.

Large tradesComing with trade data

Prints above $500k, count and share.

Closing auctionComing with trade data

Share of the day’s volume at the close.

Questions people ask

Does SPY trade at a premium or discount to NAV?

It closed +0.02% from its NAV on Oct 22, 2026. On 95% of the 251 days to then it was within ±0.06%, and it closed more than 1% from NAV on 0 of them.

Who is the AP for SPY?

SPY’s latest Form N-CEN, for the period ending Dec 31, 2025, lists 41 authorized participants (APs), and 26 created or redeemed shares. The largest were Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. (38.5%), ABN AMRO Clearing USA LLC (14.8%), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (11.7%) of the dollars its APs created and redeemed.

Who is the LMM for SPY?

NYSE Arca’s own list shows no lead market maker (LMM) for SPY. Lead market maker per NYSE Arca, as of Oct 23, 2026.
Sources and dates
Premium to NAVETFIQ, close against the issuer’s NAV · Oct 23, 2025 to Oct 22, 2026
CapacityETFIQ, each holding’s 20-day median dollar volume · to Oct 22, 2026
DealersForm N-CEN · the year to Dec 31, 2025
Creations and redemptionsShares outstanding, daily, from the issuer
Where to next
ETF trading costs and liquidity→Cost-to-trade checker→Why low volume does not mean illiquidguide →Limit orders vs market orders for ETFsguide →How the IQ Liquidity Score is builtmethod →SPY fund page→
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, SPY trading: cost, capacity, premium and dealers, data as of Oct 22, 2026. https://etfiq.com/funds/spy/trading/

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The score measures trading conditions, not the fund. ETFIQ makes no recommendations.