Nasdaq Session Breakdown with Futures and Index Price Changes

Summary

This indicator separates Nasdaq price movement into a pre-market component and a regular-session component by comparing the Nasdaq futures contract with the Nasdaq index. It calculates the index open relative to the futures open for the pre-market measure, then the index close relative to its open for the after-open measure. A combined display adds the two components when their directions agree; when they disagree, it displays only the regular-session change. Separate histograms show the futures high and low relative to its open as a view of intraday range.

The plots are intended to make overnight movement, the regular-session move, directional continuation or reversal, and futures range visible together. The publication supplies a description of the color meanings, but no trading rules, historical results, or validation. Its defaults pair a continuous Nasdaq futures symbol with the Nasdaq index, so users applying it elsewhere would need appropriate instruments and session conventions. The displayed values are price differences rather than normalized returns, which can limit direct comparisons across instruments or periods.

Key ideas

• The indicator estimates pre-market movement by comparing the index open with the futures open.
• It measures the regular-session component as the index close-to-open change.
• It combines the two changes when their directions match and otherwise displays the session move alone.
• Futures highs and lows relative to the open provide an accompanying range visualization.
• The publication provides no backtest, trading rules, or evidence that the display predicts returns.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.