Trading sessions: pre-market, regular trading hours and after-hours
An index future trades almost around the clock, but a trading day has three distinct parts: the pre-market, the regular trading hours of the stock exchange, and the after-hours. Many levels belong to one of them. This page explains the three sessions, gives the times per market and shows how Basics marks them on your chart.
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Part of Basics
Free TradingView indicator with all session, week and month levels for index, futures and CFD charts.
Install Basics (free) →Three parts of a trading day
Index futures and CFDs trade almost around the clock, but not every hour is the same. Every trading day has three parts:
| Pre-market (PMKT) | Before the stock market opens. Futures and CFDs trade, the index itself does not. Volume is lower; the range of these hours — the pre-market high and low — is often tested later in the day. |
|---|---|
| Regular trading hours (RTH) | The stock exchange is open and the official index is calculated. This is where most of the volume trades and most traders are active. |
| After-hours (AH) | The stock market has closed, but the futures keep trading until the futures day ends. |
Session times per market
In each market's home timezone:
| Nasdaq-100, S&P 500, Dow, Russell 2000 · New York | Pre-market 18:00 (previous day) – 09:30 · RTH 09:30 – 16:00 · after-hours 16:00 – 17:00 |
|---|---|
| DAX · Berlin | Pre-market 02:15 (01:15 in winter) – 09:00 · RTH 09:00 – 17:30 · after-hours 17:30 – 22:00 |
| FTSE 100 · London | Pre-market 22:00 (previous day) – 08:00 · RTH 08:00 – 16:30 · after-hours 16:30 – 21:00 |
| AEX · Amsterdam | Pre-market 08:00 – 09:00 · RTH 09:00 – 17:30 · after-hours 17:30 – 22:00 |
Every ticker of a market follows these times, whether it is the index, a future or a CFD — see supported tickers. Set your chart to the market's home timezone and the sessions appear at the times above; Basics also works in any other timezone.
Why the sessions matter for levels
- The pre-market makes its own levels. Its high, low and middle — PMKT H and PMKT L and PMKT M — are known before the open and often tested after it.
- The open is a level. The price at the start of the regular trading hours is RTH O; the official index open is RTH O index.
- Index levels come from the regular trading hours. The index's high, low and closing price only exist while the exchange is open — for example PsH / PsL index. The future's levels cover the whole futures day, after-hours included: PsH / PsL future.
The sessions in Basics
Under Backgrounds Basics can shade each session in its own colour and draw a box around the pre-market range. The PMKT zone box is on by default; the three session backgrounds are off by default — switch them on when you want to see the day's structure at a glance. Each has a colour and a transparency. All four are drawn on intraday charts. Two more backgrounds mark moments inside the regular trading hours: Period 1 and Period 2. All settings: Basics settings → Backgrounds.
Frequently asked questions
What is the pre-market?
The hours before the stock market opens in which index futures and CFDs already trade. For the US index futures it starts the evening before, at 18:00 New York time.
What does RTH mean?
Regular trading hours: the hours in which the stock exchange itself is open and the official index is calculated — for the US markets 09:30 to 16:00 New York time.
What are the after-hours?
The time after the stock market has closed in which the futures keep trading, until the futures day ends.
Why does Basics use the home timezone of the market?
Sessions are defined in the exchange's own clock. Basics works in any chart timezone, but with the chart set to the market's home zone the session lines and backgrounds appear at the times you know.
Can I shade the sessions on my chart?
Yes. Switch on PMKT session, RTH session and AH session under Backgrounds in the Basics settings. The pre-market range box, PMKT zone, is on by default.
See the sessions on your own chart
Basics is free on TradingView. Add it to any supported chart and switch on the session backgrounds under Backgrounds.