CRTLAB Answers · measured, not opinion
What time is the high or low of the day made?
Answered with real trades on 13 markets of CRTLAB's own price history, 2017–2026. The rules were fixed before any result was seen, and every one of them is on this page.
The answer
Between 08:00 and 12:00 New York. Those four hours printed the day's high or low 27.8% of the time across 27,187 trading days — about 2.2× what the same hours would get if the day's moves came in a random order (12.5%).
The short answer
Highs and lows cluster at the start and the end of any stretch of random prices, so the 18:00 open and the last hours before 17:00 always look busy. That is arithmetic, not a pattern. The control rebuilds every day with its own hours shuffled into a random order: the hours that beat the control are the ones where something real happens. The New York morning does, by a wide margin; the strongest single hour against the control was 10:00–11:00 (2.7×).
Hour by hour
The share of trading days whose high, and whose low, printed in each New York clock hour, next to the random-order control (the average of high and low).
| Hour (New York) | High of the day | Low of the day | Random-order control | Against control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00–19:00 | 9.2% | 10.7% | 12.3% | 0.8× |
| 19:00–20:00 | 3.0% | 3.3% | 5.8% | 0.5× |
| 20:00–21:00 | 4.5% | 5.4% | 4.8% | 1.0× |
| 21:00–22:00 | 3.9% | 3.9% | 4.0% | 1.0× |
| 22:00–23:00 | 1.9% | 2.3% | 3.6% | 0.6× |
| 23:00–00:00 | 1.3% | 1.3% | 3.3% | 0.4× |
| 00:00–01:00 | 1.1% | 1.3% | 3.2% | 0.4× |
| 01:00–02:00 | 1.7% | 1.8% | 3.0% | 0.6× |
| 02:00–03:00 | 3.1% | 2.9% | 3.0% | 1.0× |
| 03:00–04:00 | 4.1% | 4.2% | 3.0% | 1.4× |
| 04:00–05:00 | 3.0% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1.0× |
| 05:00–06:00 | 2.3% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 0.9× |
| 06:00–07:00 | 2.1% | 2.1% | 2.8% | 0.8× |
| 07:00–08:00 | 2.3% | 2.5% | 2.8% | 0.8× |
| 08:00–09:00 | 5.9% | 5.7% | 3.0% | 2.0× |
| 09:00–10:00 | 7.9% | 7.6% | 3.0% | 2.5× |
| 10:00–11:00 | 8.3% | 8.6% | 3.2% | 2.7× |
| 11:00–12:00 | 5.8% | 5.8% | 3.3% | 1.7× |
| 12:00–13:00 | 4.1% | 4.4% | 3.6% | 1.2× |
| 13:00–14:00 | 4.2% | 4.3% | 4.0% | 1.1× |
| 14:00–15:00 | 5.3% | 5.3% | 4.8% | 1.1× |
| 15:00–16:00 | 7.4% | 6.0% | 6.1% | 1.1× |
| 16:00–17:00 | 7.6% | 5.2% | 11.4% | 0.6× |
By session
Sessions in New York time. "Share of the clock" is the share of the 23-hour day each session holds. The high and the low printed in the same session on 9.1% of days.
| Session | High of the day | Low of the day | Share of the clock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia (18:00–02:00) | 26.7% | 30.0% | 34.8% |
| London (02:00–07:00) | 14.6% | 14.8% | 21.7% |
| New York AM (07:00–12:00) | 30.2% | 30.1% | 21.7% |
| New York PM (12:00–17:00) | 28.5% | 25.1% | 21.7% |
Does London set the high or low of the day?
The London kill zone (02:00–05:00 New York) printed the day's high on 10.2% of days and the low on 10.1%: one or the other on 20.1%. It holds 13% of the clock. The first hour of the US cash session (09:30–10:30) printed one of the two on 18.9% of days from just 4% of the clock.
Every market
The share of days whose high or low printed between 08:00 and 12:00 New York, market by market.
| Market | Since | Days | High 08–12 | Low 08–12 | London kill zone (either) | First cash hour (either) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 | 2017 | 2,440 | 28.3% | 30.2% | 13.5% | 27.0% |
| S&P 500 | 2017 | 2,440 | 25.2% | 25.4% | 15.4% | 20.9% |
| Dow Jones (US30) | 2017 | 2,439 | 30.0% | 28.3% | 14.8% | 26.5% |
| DAX (GER40) | 2025 | 409 | 25.1% | 22.3% | 44.3% | 15.2% |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 2017 | 2,429 | 31.3% | 31.4% | 17.7% | 21.3% |
| Silver (XAG/USD) | 2017 | 2,429 | 31.8% | 32.6% | 18.4% | 21.7% |
| Crude oil (WTI) | 2017 | 2,447 | 29.9% | 30.9% | 21.5% | 17.4% |
| EUR/USD | 2017 | 2,478 | 29.4% | 29.5% | 29.0% | 16.7% |
| GBP/USD | 2017 | 2,478 | 27.6% | 27.2% | 32.9% | 14.4% |
| USD/JPY | 2017 | 2,478 | 25.4% | 24.7% | 20.0% | 14.2% |
| AUD/USD | 2017 | 2,480 | 25.0% | 23.2% | 20.4% | 13.3% |
| Bitcoin | 2022 | 1,121 | 23.9% | 22.2% | 12.7% | 15.3% |
| Ethereum | 2022 | 1,119 | 21.1% | 19.5% | 13.0% | 14.1% |
What this means for your trading
- If you are waiting for the day's high or low, the New York morning is where it most often comes: 27.8% of days from four hours.
- The 18:00 open and the close always look busy on a chart of extremes. That is the start-and-end effect, not a signal; it shows up in shuffled data too.
- This is about when, not where. A replay lets you practise reading which side is likely to go first, with the future hidden.
Test it yourself
NAS100 on the 15-minute chart with yesterday's levels and the midnight open drawn. Replay any morning from 08:00 and call the day's high or low before it prints. The chart opens in your browser with nothing to install — 10,000 candles free, no card. Replay a New York morning on NAS100.
How we measured it
CRTLAB's own 5-minute price history, 3 January 2017 to 19 October 2026, on 13 markets: Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, Dow Jones (US30), DAX (GER40), Gold (XAU/USD), Silver (XAG/USD), Crude oil (WTI), EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, Bitcoin, Ethereum (DAX (GER40) from 2025, Bitcoin from 2022, Ethereum from 2022). A trading day runs 18:00 to 17:00 New York and carries the date it ends on; Monday to Friday only, and a day counts only if it is complete (half-holidays are left out).
The high and low are of the whole trading day (18:00 to 17:00). The hour is the New York clock hour of the 5-minute candle that printed it (the first, if two tie). Sessions: Asia 18:00–02:00, London 02:00–07:00, New York AM 07:00–12:00, New York PM 12:00–17:00.
THE CONTROL. Each day is cut into its clock hours; each hour keeps its own move and its own high and low relative to its open; the hours are re-chained in a random order ten times per day, and where the high and low land is counted. An hour that prints extremes more often than in the shuffled days has something real going on.
Every rule was fixed before any result was seen.
Frequently asked questions
What time is the high or low of the day made?
Between 08:00 and 12:00 New York. Those four hours printed the day's high or low 27.8% of the time across 27,187 trading days — about 2.2× what the same hours would get if the day's moves came in a random order (12.5%).
Does London set the high or low of the day?
On 20.1% of days the London kill zone (02:00–05:00 New York) printed the day's high or low — the high 10.2%, the low 10.1%.
Does the first hour set the high or low of the day?
The first hour of the US cash session (09:30–10:30 New York) printed the day's high or low on 18.9% of 27,187 days.
Which session makes the high of the day most often?
New York AM (07:00–12:00) on 30.2% of days, then New York PM 28.5%, Asia 26.7% (which includes the 18:00 open) and London 14.6%.
The average says what usually happens. Replay tells you if your version beats it.
Replay real market history candle by candle with the future hidden, take the setup by your own rules, and every trade is scored for you — on 38 markets and every timeframe.
Replay a New York morning on NAS100