Quote from Don Bright:
The "opening price" on the INDU is the same as the closing price from the day before. What happens, is that you may see other data vendors using the 9:30 snapshot where, perhaps, a few Dow stocks have opened.
A similar thing happens with individual stocks. You have what is called "primary market" (NYSE for example) versus "consolidated market" pricing used by differnent vendors. For example, I use "primary market" for all my quotes through the GS Redi platform so that I am sure of the actual opening and closing prices. Some of our traders opt for the "consolidated quote" which will take that same snapshot at 9:30, which may be pre-market pricing on the various ECN's.
Hope this helps,
Don