Overnight High & Low
By the end, you can explain why overnight extremes matter for futures before the regular session opens.
The night shift's scoreboard. While you slept, another crowd traded and left its own high and low. When the day crowd arrives, those marks are already on the wall.
Futures trade nearly around the clock. The overnight high (ONH) and overnight low (ONL) are the extremes reached before the regular session (RTH) opens. They're reference points the day session inherits.
The open often relates to these levels: price may open inside the overnight range, break the ONH, or reject the ONL. As with any level, the reaction — not the touch — is what matters.
“The day starts fresh at the open — overnight doesn't count.”
“We're opening just under the overnight high. That's a level the morning crowd will test — I'll read the reaction, not guess.”
Why do overnight highs and lows matter for futures?
- Futures trade overnight; ONH/ONL are the pre-open extremes.
- The day session inherits them as reference points.
- Read the reaction at the open, don't assume.
Up next — The opening range is a level you build live, in the first minutes. Next: the opening range.