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Gap smaller than the dividend

The ordinary state of trading after a record date: the price opens lower, but not by the full amount declared.

How to read the number

A buyer will receive the payment net of withheld tax, so the fair fall in price is measured by the after-tax amount rather than by the declared one.

When the metric lies

Withholding differs between holders, so no single correct size of the fall exists. A gap differing from the payment is neither a market error nor a signal.

Also known as: partial dividend gap

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