End-of-day data is often more reliable than live data because it is validated and settled by the exchange after the session, with erroneous trades removed and official closing prices confirmed. Live feeds carry raw intraday ticks that can include momentary spikes, bad prints, and thin-liquidity noise that never settle into the official record. For measuring what actually happened, the cleaned end-of-day figure is more trustworthy than any single live tick.
Key takeaways
- Live feeds stream raw ticks in real time, so they include noise, momentary spikes, and occasional bad prints that are later corrected or discarded.
- End-of-day data is the exchange's validated record after the session, with the official close and settlement price confirmed.
- An official closing price on the NSE is often a volume-weighted average of the final minutes, not just the last trade, which filters out a single stray tick.
- Intraday, thinly traded stocks can print prices that look real for a second but never reflect where the stock could actually be sold in size.
- For historical analysis, valuation, and portfolio records, settled end-of-day figures are the dependable reference; live data is for immediacy, not for the record.
What is the difference between live and end-of-day data?
Live data is the stream of individual trades and quote updates that the exchange publishes as they happen. Every tick is raw and unverified: it is simply a report that a trade occurred at a price. This immediacy is its purpose, but it is also its weakness, because no one has yet checked whether any given print was an error.
End-of-day data is what remains after the session closes and the exchange completes Settlement and validation. Trades that were entered in error or busted under exchange rules are removed, the official closing price is fixed, and the day is reduced to a clean OHLC record. That record is what feeds charts, valuations, and portfolio statements.
Why is the official closing price not just the last trade?
On the NSE, the closing price of most stocks is not the price of the final trade of the day. It is calculated from a volume-weighted average of trades in the last part of the session, typically the final thirty minutes. This method exists precisely so that one small, stray trade in the final second cannot set the official close.
A live feed, by contrast, will happily show you that last stray trade as the current price. If a single small order lifts the price for a moment near the close, the live number reflects it, but the official end-of-day close smooths it away. For anything you record or compare over time, the validated close is the figure that will still be correct tomorrow.
Open a stock on Artha Terminal to see live quotes alongside the settled end-of-day series that powers its historical charts and analytics.
Where does intraday noise and bad ticks come from?
Not every stock trades continuously. In a thinly traded, low Liquidity name, minutes can pass between trades, and when a trade finally happens it may be at a price well away from where the stock last changed hands. That print is real in the sense that it occurred, but it does not represent a price at which any meaningful quantity could be bought or sold.
Live feeds also occasionally carry outright bad ticks: a mistyped order, a fat-finger trade, or a transient data glitch. These can create a spike on an intraday chart that vanishes by the close. This is one reason two people watching different live feeds can briefly disagree on a price, much as they can when Why market cap differs. The end-of-day process is designed to filter exactly this kind of transient distortion.
Does this mean live data is untrustworthy?
No. Live data is essential and appropriate for its job: knowing where a stock is trading right now so you can act. A trader placing an order needs the current tick, not yesterday's settled close. The point is to match the data to the question.
For immediacy, use live. For the record, use end-of-day. Problems arise when people treat a fleeting intraday spike as a durable fact, or store a live snapshot as if it were the official close. The live number answers "where is it now"; the end-of-day number answers "where did it actually settle", and only the second one is stable enough to build history on.
How should you use each type of data?
Use live prices for monitoring and execution, and treat any sudden single-tick move with caution until it is confirmed by volume and by the close. Use end-of-day prices for valuation, performance measurement, and anything you intend to compare across days, months, or years.
On Artha Terminal, live quotes power the real-time views while the settled end-of-day series underpins historical charts, returns, and analytics, so the numbers you study are the validated ones rather than raw ticks. This separation also matters for research: a clean, settled series is the foundation for the Point-in-time data discipline that reliable backtesting depends on. If a live price ever looks implausible, Ask Warren can help you check it against the settled record before you draw a conclusion.