A condition of the market typified by heavy transaction volume.

This may occur within a certain commodity, security, or stock, or may describe the status of the exchange as a whole. The more active the market the more liquid it tends to be and the smaller the bid/ask spreads. When the market as a whole is experiencing a high level of activity, the trading of large blocks of stock tend to have a smaller impact on prices than usual. This makes an active market a desirable situation for institutional money managers.