The Overnight Session: Trading the Globex Gap

Futures markets trade nearly 24 hours. The Regular Trading Hours (RTH) session — 9:30 AM to 4:15 PM ET for equity index futures — is only part of the picture. The Overnight session (also called Globex or ETH — Electronic Trading Hours) runs from the prior session's close through the next morning's open. What happens overnight sets the stage for RTH.

Most retail traders ignore the overnight session entirely. They open their charts at 9:30 and start fresh. This is a mistake. The overnight session:

• Establishes its own Value AreaDefinitionThe price range where 70% of volume traded. Defined by Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL)., POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened., and profile shape before RTH begins
• Tests prior RTH levels — yesterday's high, low, POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened., VA edges — and shows you which ones held and which ones broke
• Creates single prints and initiative moves that become support and resistance during RTH
• Sets the opening gap — the distance between yesterday's RTH close and this morning's RTH open tells you how much repricing happened while you were asleep

The most useful way to view the overnight session on a TPODefinitionTime Price Opportunity — a letter printed at each price level per 30-minute period on a Market Profile chart. chart is with the Split display mode. Instead of merging overnight and RTH into one continuous profile, split mode separates them into two distinct profiles side by side.

• Overnight profile — shows the TPODefinitionTime Price Opportunity — a letter printed at each price level per 30-minute period on a Market Profile chart. letters, Value AreaDefinitionThe price range where 70% of volume traded. Defined by Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL)., and POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened. for the Globex session only
• RTH profile — shows the standard RTH session profile independently
• VA Shading — highlights the Value AreaDefinitionThe price range where 70% of volume traded. Defined by Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL). for each session separately, making it easy to see where value was accepted overnight vs during RTH
• Volume ProfileDefinitionA histogram showing total volume at each price level. The widest bar is the POC. Shows where the heaviest trading occurred. overlay — shows the volume distributionDefinitionPhase 3 of Power of 3. The real move — Smart Money distributes into retail momentum. for each session, confirming whether the TPODefinitionTime Price Opportunity — a letter printed at each price level per 30-minute period on a Market Profile chart.-based value area aligns with actual volume

The overnight profile gives you three critical pieces of information before RTH opens:

1. Overnight Value Area Position

Where the overnight VA sits relative to the prior RTH session's VA tells you the overnight bias:

• Overnight VA overlaps prior RTH VA — the market accepted yesterday's value overnight. Expect a balanced open with potential for rotation
• Overnight VA entirely above prior RTH VA — overnight participants repriced higher. Buyers were in control. The gap up is real acceptance, not just thin-market noise
• Overnight VA entirely below prior RTH VA — overnight participants repriced lower. Sellers dominated. The gap down has conviction

2. Overnight POC

The overnight POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened. is the price where the most time was spent during the Globex session. It acts as a magnet during the first hour of RTH:

• If RTH opens near the overnight POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened., expect early balance — the market is confirming the overnight fair value
• If RTH opens away from the overnight POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened., watch for a pullback to test it. The overnight POC often acts as first-hour support or resistance
• A wide overnight profile with a clear POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened. is more significant than a narrow, low-participation overnight session

3. Overnight High and Low

The overnight high and low are the first reference levels of the new session:

• A break of the overnight high during RTH signals continuation of overnight buying — new buyers are entering above the highest price overnight participants were willing to pay
• A break of the overnight low during RTH signals continuation of overnight selling
• If price stays inside the overnight range during the first hour of RTH, neither side has added conviction beyond what the overnight session established

The most powerful setups come from reading the overnight session in context with the prior RTH session:

Gap and Go

• Overnight session reprices significantly in one direction
• Overnight VA is entirely outside prior RTH VA
• RTH opens at or near the overnight POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened.
• The gap is accepted value, not just a thin-market spike
• Trade: enter in the direction of the gap on the first shallow pullback during RTH

Gap and Fill

• Overnight session creates a gap, but the overnight profile is thin and narrow — low participation
• The overnight VA barely extends beyond the prior RTH high or low
• RTH opens and immediately reverses toward the prior RTH close
• Trade: fade the gap with a target at the prior RTH POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened.. The overnight move lacked conviction

Overnight Range Breakout

• Overnight session establishes a clear range with well-defined high and low
• RTH opens inside this range and balances for the first 30-60 minutes
• When price breaks the overnight high or low with delta confirmation and imbalances, trade the breakout
• The overnight range acts as the new Initial Balance for the combined session

One of the most actionable setups from the overnight session comes from single prints left behind during the Globex auction. When the overnight market drives through a price range quickly — repricing in one direction without revisiting — it leaves behind single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest.: price levels where only one TPODefinitionTime Price Opportunity — a letter printed at each price level per 30-minute period on a Market Profile chart. letter printed.

These overnight single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest. act as support and resistance when RTH opens. The market remembers where it moved through quickly, and when price returns to those levels during the day session, it reacts.

In this example, the April 8 overnight session drove lower, leaving a column of single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest.. When the RTH session opened, price pulled back into that zone and bounced cleanly in the C period — the single prints from the overnight auction acted as a floor. The C period bounce is significant: the market had two full 30-minute periods (A and B) to explore, and by C it tested the overnight singles and rejected them. The RTH volume profile confirms heavy participation at the bounce level.

This is why the overnight session matters beyond just the gap:

• Single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest. from the overnight session mark initiative moves — one side drove through that zone aggressively. When price revisits, the market is testing whether that initiative still holds
• Overnight single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest. between value areas are magnets — if the overnight session created single prints between the overnight VA and the prior RTH VA, price will often travel to fill or test them during RTH
• A bounce off overnight single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest. confirms the overnight auction — it tells you the overnight move was real, not just thin-market noise. The levels it created are being respected by RTH participants with real volume behind them
• A break through overnight single printsDefinitionPrice levels with only one TPO letter — price moved through quickly. Often act as support or resistance on retest. invalidates the overnight structure — if RTH drives through the single prints without stopping, the overnight auction is being rejected. The market is repricing, and you should not expect those levels to hold

Before the 9:30 bell, mark these levels on your chart:

1. Overnight POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened. — the fair value of the Globex session
2. Overnight VA High and VA Low — the accepted range overnight
3. Overnight High and Low — the extremes of the overnight auction
4. Prior RTH POCDefinitionPoint of Control — the price with the highest volume. Where the most trading happened., VAHDefinitionValue Area High — the upper boundary of the zone where 70% of volume traded., VAL — yesterday's reference levels
5. Gap size — the distance between yesterday's RTH close and the current price

With these levels marked and the overnight profile visible in split display, you have a complete picture of what happened while the US market was closed — and a framework for interpreting every move that happens after the open.