Lesson 10
Sessions: overnight, cash open and inventory
NQ trades almost around the clock, but the stock market's cash session (09:30 to 16:00 ET) is where most of the volume trades. The overnight session sets up the open by leaving traders holding a position, called inventory.
In one lineIf the overnight session is mostly long or mostly short, the open often has to deal with that position first.
Two sessions in one day
- Overnight (Globex). 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET. Thinner, slower, driven by Asia, Europe and news.
- Cash session (RTH). 09:30 to 16:00 ET, the stock market's hours. Most of the volume and most of the decisive moves happen here.
30-minute bars from 18:00 to 16:00 ET. Overnight trade drifts up and leaves traders long; the cash open sells off as that inventory is unwound. Illustration from simulated prices, not a real session.
Reading overnight inventory
- Compare where the overnight session traded to yesterday's close. Mostly above it means the overnight crowd is long; mostly below, short.
- A heavily one-sided inventory is fragile. Early in the cash session it is often corrected before the market picks a real direction.
- The overnight high and low are reference points. The cash session often tests one of them early.
Key terms
Globex / overnightTrading outside the cash session, 18:00 to 09:30 ET.
RTHRegular trading hours: 09:30 to 16:00 ET.
InventoryThe net position left by the overnight session.
ON high / lowThe overnight extremes; common early tests.
Try it
At 09:25 ET, note whether the overnight session spent most of its time above or below yesterday's close. Then watch the first 30 minutes.
AXIS Desk · AMT Fundamentals · free. Education only, not trade advice. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss; past patterns do not guarantee future results.