When Does NQ (Nasdaq 100 E-mini Futures) Actually Move? Hourly Ranges on 10 minute Charts
Educational reference. Measured from 8,531 recorded 10 minute bars of E-mini Nasdaq 100 through October 20, 2026.
10:00 is the busiest hour, averaging 67.25 per bar — 3.7× the quietest hour at 19:00.
The same stop is a different stop at different times of day. This is the median high to low range of a single 10 minute bar of E-mini Nasdaq 100, hour by hour, measured from 8,531 recorded bars over the last 90 days.
| Hour (ET) | Median range | Bars | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 20.00 | 372 | |
| 01:00 | 25.00 | 372 | |
| 02:00 | 27.62 | 372 | |
| 03:00 | 29.00 | 372 | |
| 04:00 | 32.75 | 372 | |
| 05:00 | 26.00 | 372 | |
| 06:00 | 24.00 | 372 | |
| 07:00 | 30.50 | 372 | |
| 08:00 | 34.88 | 372 | |
| 09:00 | 42.75 | 372 | |
| 10:00 | 67.25 | 372 | |
| 11:00 | 49.62 | 372 | |
| 12:00 | 39.00 | 372 | |
| 13:00 | 32.00 | 367 | |
| 14:00 | 29.88 | 366 | |
| 15:00 | 27.75 | 366 | |
| 16:00 | 23.00 | 366 | |
| 17:00 | 18.50 | 60 | |
| 18:00 | 22.75 | 310 | |
| 19:00 | 18.25 | 372 | |
| 20:00 | 32.88 | 372 | |
| 21:00 | 30.50 | 372 | |
| 22:00 | 25.88 | 372 | |
| 23:00 | 21.25 | 372 |
The spread across the day
The busiest hour is 10:00, averaging 67.25 per bar. The quietest is 19:00 at 18.25. That is a 3.7× difference across the same instrument, the same timeframe, the same trading day.
A stop sized for 19:00 conditions will be caught routinely at 10:00, and a stop sized for 10:00 gives away far more than it needs to overnight. The same number of points does not mean the same thing at every hour.
See LiveCharts.AI predicting E-mini Nasdaq 100 live — 7 day free trial →
How this was measured
Every 10 minute bar of E-mini Nasdaq 100 recorded in the last 90 days was grouped by the hour it opened, in Eastern time. The figure shown is the median of high minus low within each group — the middle bar of that hour, not the average, so a single outlier session cannot distort it. Hours with fewer than 60 recorded bars are omitted rather than shown on thin evidence.
These are recorded market ranges, not predictions. Nothing on this page is a projection.
See live predictions on LiveCharts.AI →
Questions traders ask
AI 10 minute AI price action On the 10 minute NQ chart LiveCharts.AI predicts the next 30 candles, about 5 hours ahead, and redraws them as each 10 minute candle closes. Candlestick prediction →
AI day trading tool for NQ For day trading Nasdaq 100 E-mini Futures, LiveCharts.AI predicts the next candles on the 1, 5, 10 and 15 minute charts and redraws the prediction as each bar closes, so you see when it changes during the session. AI tools for day traders →
Smart charting app with predictions NQ LiveCharts.AI is an AI charting and prediction app built for futures day traders: live NQ charts, predicted candles up to 30 bars ahead and an AI chat that explains the chart, on web, iPhone, iPad and Mac. Futures prediction app →