The old adage “less is more” is often applicable when it comes to intraday trading. Generally, it might prove wise to limit one’s intraday tradingto a few key hours as opposed to purchasing and selling stocks the entire trading day. In fact, devoting one to two strategically chosen hours each day to trading has proven to be more beneficial for traders who work with stocks, index futures, and ETFs.
TheBest Time Framefor Intraday Trading
Finding the best time frameis very beneficial for long term intraday traders. As they are known for important market activity, utilizing these hours can help maximize your efficiency. On the flip side, those who day trade for the whole day get very little time for other things with insufficient rewards. Even experienced intraday traders can lose their money if they trade outside of the best time frame for intraday trading. This begs the question: what is the best time framefor intraday trading? The answer: Between 9:30 to 10:30 am.
Should I Trade in the First Fifteen Minutes?
One to two hours of the stock market being open is the best time framefor intraday trading. However, most stock market trading channels open from 9:15 am in India. So, why not start at 9:15? If you are a seasoned trader, trading within the first 15 minutes might not be as much of a risk. For beginners, it’s recommended to wait until 9:30. The reason behind this is simple; in the first few minutes of the market opening, stocks are likely reacting to the previous night’s news.
Trades often will depict sharp price movements in a particular direction. This is called the “dumb money phenomenon”, as people are making their best guesses based on old news. Seasoned traders may make some valuable trades within the first 15 minutes. They usually take advantage of extremely high or low price points and reverse it in the opposite direction. To beginners who have never heard of the dumb money phenomenon, or the strategyemployed by seasoned traders to push back against it, the market will appear highly volatile. Hence, waiting until 9:30 is a safer bet than jumping in at 9:15.
Trading at the Opening of the Market
Volatility is not all bad. The ideal amount of volatility for beginners arrives in the market after these initial extreme trades have occurred. Hence, this makes the time frame between 9:30 am to 10:30 am the ideal time to make trades. Intraday tradingin the first few hours of the market opening has many benefits:
- – The first hour is usually the most volatile, providing ample opportunity to make the best trades of the day.
- – The first hour provides the necessary liquidity to get in and out of the market. Liquid stocks are higher in volume so they are likely to be sold off faster.
- – The stocks traded or bought in the first hour have been shown to be some of the largest moves of the whole trading day. If done correctly, it can offer the highest returns compared to other time frames during the trading day. If done incorrectly, losses can be massive.
- – After 11 am, trades usually take longer and occur in smaller volumes; a bad combination for intraday traders who need to wrap up their exchanges before 3:30 pm. If you require more time, it’s worthwhile to extend this session until 11 am. However, the strategyof limiting one’s trades to the first hour is better fitted to day trading.
Keep the Bigger Picture in Mind
The 9:30 to 10:30 range is not a hard-and-fast rule for every trader to follow. It is suited to beginners, in general, but can be customized to personal needs. It’s wise to keep the bigger picture in mind.
For instance, in addition to utilising the best time framefor intraday trading, another strategyis to keep the day of the week in mind. Monday afternoon is often a desirable time to make purchases on the market as it has historically tended to drop at the start of the trading week. Experts suggest selling on Fridays right before the Monday-dip occurs.
Additionally, not every trader needs to fill up that first one hour with activity. Those who tend to make multiple trades in the trading day can choose a shorter time frame. Alternatively, intraday traders who only make a handful of trades per day can opt for a longer time frame. Depending on how active they are, seasoned traders are also known to switch their time frame on different days.
FAQs
Trading at the Opening of the Market
How much time frame is best for intraday trading? ›
Optimal time frames for Intraday trading success
Many experts state that the time frame between 9.30 am and 10.30 am is the best for intraday trading. Trading during these hours is considered beneficial. Intraday traders should avoid trading for the entire day because they might not be able to get sufficient rewards.
At what time intraday trading ends in Angel One? ›
The continuous trading session is from 9.15 am to 3.30 pm. During this period trades are continuous as orders match at time/price priority. Whenever the buying price is equal to the selling price, the transaction is complete.
What is the best moving average time frame for intraday trading? ›
A 9 or 10-day moving average period is the best-moving average for intraday trading. However, 21-day EMA can be also used for day trading but you have to apply another technical indicator in combination with moving averages crossover to know the trend reversal.
What timeframe should I use for day trading? ›
A day trader could trade off of 15-minute charts, use 60-minute charts to define the primary trend and a five-minute chart (or even a tick chart) to define the short-term trend.
What is the 11am rule in trading? ›
What Is the 11am Rule in Trading? If a trending security makes a new high of day between 11:15-11:30 am EST, there's a 75% probability of closing within 1% of the HOD.
What is the 10 am rule in stock trading? ›
Traders that follow the 10 a.m. rule think a stock's price trajectory is relatively set for the day by the end of that half-hour. For example, if a stock closed at $40 the previous day, opened at $42 the next, and reached $43 by 10 a.m., this would indicate that the stock is likely to remain above $42 by market close.
What is Angel 1 intraday margin? ›
Angel One margin for intraday trading is up to 20% of trade value (max 5x leverage) based on the stock.
How to square off intraday in Angel One? ›
Intraday trades will auto squared off at 3:15 pm for the Cash segment and at 3:20 for the F&O segment. Intraday trades will be squared off if you lose 80% of your Available Margin. When you don't maintain the minimum required margin in your account your shares will be squared off 4 days after the shortfall occurs.
What time should I hold intraday trading? ›
Hence, the timing for intraday trading is from 9.15 am to 3.30 pm on a daily basis in the Indian markets. To understand at what time intraday trading starts, you must be clear that intraday orders cannot be placed in the pre-market session.
As a general rule, traders use a ratio of 1:4 or 1:6 when performing multiple timeframe analysis, where a four- or six-hour chart is used as the longer timeframe, and a one-hour chart is used as the lower timeframe.
Which strategy is best for intraday trading? ›
There are several strategies for intraday trading; a few of the best ones are - Momentum trading strategy, Breakout trading strategy, Moving average crossover strategy, Gap and Go trading strategy, and the "risky" Reversal trading strategy. What is a reversal trading strategy?
Which indicator is best for intraday trading? ›
Momentum oscillators are considered one of the best indicators for intraday trading. At times traders can miss out on price movements during short-period cycles. This is when momentum oscillators can be helpful.
What is the best time frame chart for intraday trading? ›
The Best Time Frame for Intraday Traders
The ideal time for intraday trading, according to stock market analysts, is between 10.15 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. This is because by 10.00 a.m. to 10.15 a.m., morning stock volatility has subsided. As a result, it is the ideal opportunity to place an intraday transaction.
What time frame do most professional traders use? ›
It is an easier strategy to manage risk while it is a good thing to identify trends. Therefore, for scalpers, we recommend that you use extremely short timeframes like 1-minute, 5-minute, and 10-minute. For regular day traders, the best time frames are 5-minute, 15-minute, and 30-minute charts.
Which time frame is best for scalping? ›
As scalping is a very short-term strategy, popular timeframes for carrying out scalping in trading can be anywhere between one and 15 minutes, although some may choose longer. This is because price movements tend to be very small, so your entry into and exit from the trade need to be sharp.
What is the 3.30 trading strategy? ›
It involves buying an option contract at 3:30 pm , which is the last 30 minutes of the trading day , and selling it at the opening of the next trading day .
How long do intraday traders hold? ›
Day traders typically target stocks, options, futures, commodities, or currencies (including crypto). They enter and exit positions within the same day (hence the term day traders). They hold positions for hours, minutes, or even seconds before selling them. They rarely hold positions overnight.
When to exit intraday trading? ›
Setting Target Prices and Stop-Loss Orders: Defining your desired profit level involves setting a target price. Simultaneously, establish a stop-loss order to minimise potential losses. Exiting the trade when either of these levels is reached helps you stay disciplined and manage risk.
