{
  "study": "nasdaq-volatility-by-hour",
  "title": "Nasdaq Volatility by Hour: 3,378 Sessions in Eastern Time",
  "description": "The Nasdaq 100 makes 20.6% of its daily movement in the two hours after the US open and 54.9% inside the cash session. Hour-by-hour ranges, where the day's high and low form, and why UTC buckets get this wrong.",
  "source": "https://fxbacktest.app/research/nasdaq-volatility-by-hour/",
  "publisher": "FxBacktest",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "FxBacktest, https://fxbacktest.app/research/nasdaq-volatility-by-hour/",
  "datePublished": "2026-09-16",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-16",
  "generated": "2026-09-18",
  "tables": [
    {
      "id": "us100-nasdaq-100-every-hour-of",
      "caption": "US100 (Nasdaq 100): every hour of the trading day, US Eastern time",
      "captionSource": "caption",
      "columns": [
        "Hour (ET)",
        "Session",
        "Mean range (points)",
        "Share of the day's movement",
        "Sets the day's high",
        "Sets the day's low"
      ],
      "rowCount": 24,
      "rows": [
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "00:00-01:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 21.36,
          "Share of the day's movement": 1.66,
          "Sets the day's high": 3.35,
          "Sets the day's low": 5.39
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "01:00-02:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 25.98,
          "Share of the day's movement": 2.05,
          "Sets the day's high": 1.89,
          "Sets the day's low": 2.96
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "02:00-03:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 25.95,
          "Share of the day's movement": 3.34,
          "Sets the day's high": 3.82,
          "Sets the day's low": 4.77
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "03:00-04:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 34.9,
          "Share of the day's movement": 4.85,
          "Sets the day's high": 5.74,
          "Sets the day's low": 6.96
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "04:00-05:00",
          "Session": "Pre-market / Europe",
          "Mean range (points)": 32,
          "Share of the day's movement": 4.23,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.69,
          "Sets the day's low": 3.02
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "05:00-06:00",
          "Session": "Pre-market / Europe",
          "Mean range (points)": 26.44,
          "Share of the day's movement": 3.63,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.34,
          "Sets the day's low": 2.87
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "06:00-07:00",
          "Session": "Pre-market / Europe",
          "Mean range (points)": 26.58,
          "Share of the day's movement": 3.57,
          "Sets the day's high": 1.63,
          "Sets the day's low": 2.07
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "07:00-08:00",
          "Session": "Pre-market / Europe",
          "Mean range (points)": 30.44,
          "Share of the day's movement": 3.93,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.13,
          "Sets the day's low": 2.1
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "08:00-09:00",
          "Session": "Pre-market / Europe",
          "Mean range (points)": 42.01,
          "Share of the day's movement": 5.33,
          "Sets the day's high": 4,
          "Sets the day's low": 3.79
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "09:00-10:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 75.36,
          "Share of the day's movement": 10.37,
          "Sets the day's high": 11.01,
          "Sets the day's low": 10.83
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "10:00-11:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 75.69,
          "Share of the day's movement": 10.21,
          "Sets the day's high": 9.21,
          "Sets the day's low": 11.66
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "11:00-12:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 58.47,
          "Share of the day's movement": 7.9,
          "Sets the day's high": 6.13,
          "Sets the day's low": 6.93
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "12:00-13:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 49.17,
          "Share of the day's movement": 6.54,
          "Sets the day's high": 4.56,
          "Sets the day's low": 4.71
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "13:00-14:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 48.04,
          "Share of the day's movement": 6.19,
          "Sets the day's high": 4.23,
          "Sets the day's low": 4.88
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "14:00-15:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 49.84,
          "Share of the day's movement": 6.52,
          "Sets the day's high": 5.65,
          "Sets the day's low": 5.95
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "15:00-16:00",
          "Session": "US cash session",
          "Mean range (points)": 55.99,
          "Share of the day's movement": 7.16,
          "Sets the day's high": 13.06,
          "Sets the day's low": 9.21
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "16:00-17:00",
          "Session": "After hours",
          "Mean range (points)": 23.44,
          "Share of the day's movement": 2.43,
          "Sets the day's high": 3.88,
          "Sets the day's low": 2.43
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "17:00-18:00 break",
          "Session": "After hours",
          "Mean range (points)": 2,
          "Share of the day's movement": 0.11,
          "Sets the day's high": 0.3,
          "Sets the day's low": 0.15
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "18:00-19:00",
          "Session": "After hours",
          "Mean range (points)": 28.38,
          "Share of the day's movement": 1.72,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.13,
          "Sets the day's low": 1.45
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "19:00-20:00",
          "Session": "After hours",
          "Mean range (points)": 25.9,
          "Share of the day's movement": 1.56,
          "Sets the day's high": 1.45,
          "Sets the day's low": 0.92
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "20:00-21:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 33.58,
          "Share of the day's movement": 2.02,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.13,
          "Sets the day's low": 1.81
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "21:00-22:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 29.86,
          "Share of the day's movement": 1.85,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.66,
          "Sets the day's low": 1.81
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "22:00-23:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 25.07,
          "Share of the day's movement": 1.53,
          "Sets the day's high": 2.66,
          "Sets the day's low": 1.54
        },
        {
          "Hour (ET)": "23:00-00:00",
          "Session": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Mean range (points)": 21.32,
          "Share of the day's movement": 1.29,
          "Sets the day's high": 3.35,
          "Sets the day's low": 1.81
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "where-each-indexs-busiest-hour-falls",
      "caption": "Where each index's busiest hour falls",
      "captionSource": "caption",
      "columns": [
        "Index",
        "Busiest hour (ET)",
        "Mean range",
        "Quietest hour",
        "Mean range",
        "Busiest / quietest"
      ],
      "rowCount": 4,
      "rows": [
        {
          "Index": "US500 (S&P 500)",
          "Busiest hour (ET)": "10:00-11:00",
          "Mean range": 4.87,
          "Quietest hour": "00:00-01:00",
          "Busiest / quietest": "3.5x"
        },
        {
          "Index": "US100 (Nasdaq 100)",
          "Busiest hour (ET)": "10:00-11:00",
          "Mean range": 21.32,
          "Quietest hour": "23:00-00:00",
          "Busiest / quietest": "3.6x"
        },
        {
          "Index": "US30 (Dow 30)",
          "Busiest hour (ET)": "09:00-10:00",
          "Mean range": 34.84,
          "Quietest hour": "00:00-01:00",
          "Busiest / quietest": "4.0x"
        },
        {
          "Index": "GER40 (DAX)",
          "Busiest hour (ET)": "03:00-04:00",
          "Mean range": 21.77,
          "Quietest hour": "16:00-17:00",
          "Busiest / quietest": "3.7x"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "how-much-of-the-day-the",
      "caption": "How much of the day the US cash session accounts for",
      "captionSource": "caption",
      "columns": [
        "Index",
        "Share of the day's movement",
        "Share of daily highs and lows"
      ],
      "rowCount": 4,
      "rows": [
        {
          "Index": "US500 (S&P 500)",
          "Share of the day's movement": 52.8,
          "Share of daily highs and lows": 52
        },
        {
          "Index": "US100 (Nasdaq 100)",
          "Share of the day's movement": 54.9,
          "Share of daily highs and lows": 54
        },
        {
          "Index": "US30 (Dow 30)",
          "Share of the day's movement": 53.7,
          "Share of daily highs and lows": 53.6
        },
        {
          "Index": "GER40 (DAX)",
          "Share of the day's movement": 37.6,
          "Share of daily highs and lows": 30.4
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "us100-by-session-block",
      "caption": "US100 by session block",
      "captionSource": "caption",
      "columns": [
        "Block",
        "Hours (ET)",
        "Hours counted",
        "Mean hourly range (points)",
        "Share of the day's movement",
        "Share of daily extremes"
      ],
      "rowCount": 4,
      "rows": [
        {
          "Block": "Overnight / Asia",
          "Hours (ET)": "20:00-04:00 ET",
          "Hours counted": 8,
          "Mean hourly range (points)": 27.3,
          "Share of the day's movement": 18.6,
          "Share of daily extremes": 26.3
        },
        {
          "Block": "Pre-market / Europe",
          "Hours (ET)": "04:00-09:00 ET",
          "Hours counted": 5,
          "Mean hourly range (points)": 31.5,
          "Share of the day's movement": 20.7,
          "Share of daily extremes": 13.3
        },
        {
          "Block": "US cash session",
          "Hours (ET)": "09:00-16:00 ET",
          "Hours counted": 7,
          "Mean hourly range (points)": 58.9,
          "Share of the day's movement": 54.9,
          "Share of daily extremes": 54
        },
        {
          "Block": "After hours",
          "Hours (ET)": "16:00-20:00 ET",
          "Hours counted": 3,
          "Mean hourly range (points)": 25.9,
          "Share of the day's movement": 5.7,
          "Share of daily extremes": 6.1
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}