You bet they can!
Many people that become interested in stock markets wonder how is it possible for a particular stock to open at a price below the previous day's close. Well, it's actually very simple. When you check a stock quote, the price you see is the last one at wich a share of the stock was purchased. If the stock market has already closed for the day, that price will be the quoted price for that stock until the very next business day. But that doesn't mean that the first shares that will change hands when the market opens next day will do so at that same price. In fact is actually very common for a stock to have different close and open prices.
The basic point is that the price is, at any given moment, just the crossing point at which someone is willing to buy shares and someone is willing to sell them. And nothing precludes that point from varying a great deal from one day to the next one.
Many people that become interested in stock markets wonder how is it possible for a particular stock to open at a price below the previous day's close. Well, it's actually very simple. When you check a stock quote, the price you see is the last one at wich a share of the stock was purchased. If the stock market has already closed for the day, that price will be the quoted price for that stock until the very next business day. But that doesn't mean that the first shares that will change hands when the market opens next day will do so at that same price. In fact is actually very common for a stock to have different close and open prices.
The basic point is that the price is, at any given moment, just the crossing point at which someone is willing to buy shares and someone is willing to sell them. And nothing precludes that point from varying a great deal from one day to the next one.
