Order Imbalance Definition
A situation in which buy orders for a particular stock greatly outnumber sell orders, or vice-versa, causing a wide spread between bid and offer prices. This may result in a temporary trading halt for that stock until more buyers or sellers appear and an orderly market can be reestablished. Order imbalance on the buying side occurs for example when unexpected positive news are announced. Similarly, order imbalance on the selling side occurs in case of unexpected negative news.