A trade in a particular stock at a price lower than the trade immediately preceding it. On U.S. stock exchanges, you cannot sell a stock short on a downtick. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary
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downtick down‧tick [ˈdaʊntɪk] noun [countable]
• The short sale was barred at the 4 pm closing price during the regular session because it was on a downtick.
• The New York Stock Exchange's downtick rule seeks to stabilize the market by curbing stock index arbitrage trades.
2. ECONOMICS a small or gradual decrease in the amount of something:
downtick in
• In the U.S. we have come to expect companies to lay off workers at every downtick in the economy.
• a downtick in profits
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downtick UK US /ˈdaʊntɪk/ noun [C]
► a small reduction in the number or level of something: »
Last week's accident caused barely a downtick in travel-agency airline bookings.
► (also minus tick) STOCK MARKET, FINANCE a price or offer on a stock that is lower than the previous price at which the stock was sold: »
CNBC correspondents somberly reported each downtick in stock prices.
Financial and business terms. 2012.