What does Ask mean?

Also called the offer price, the ask is an amount a seller is keen on accepting a security for. The ask quote will normally also stipulate the sum of the security or commodity willing to me put up for sale at the specific price. It is the opposite of the bid, or the price of a security or commodity a buyer is willing to pay for. The ask is always higher than the bid. These term are often used in financial markets al over the world, which includes currency stock bonds and derivates.

For instance, in the stock market an ask would be something like $5.24 x 1,000, which signifies that a person is offering to sell 1,000 shares for the mentioned price. For the stocks that are being traded over the counter, an ask is basically the best quoted price the Market Maker is willing to sell a stock at. This does not apply for mutual funds though where this is the net asset value added to any sales changes.

An ask is known also as the ask or offering price or asking price.