The Dow is a one-session market: nearly everything that matters happens between the 09:30 New York open and the 16:00 close. Master the opening range, know the macro windows, and get the point-value math right โ because on US30 a "point" is not a "pip".
US30 CFDs quote nearly around the clock, but real volume lives in the NYSE cash session. Inside it, a handful of time windows produce a disproportionate share of the day's displacement.
| Window | New York | UTC* | IST* | What usually happens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-market drift | 04:00โ09:30 | 09:00โ14:30 | 14:30โ20:00 | Thin CFD/futures trade builds the overnight range โ the liquidity the open will attack. |
| Cash open + opening range | 09:30โ10:30 | 14:30โ15:30 | 20:00โ21:00 | The first 30โ60 minutes set the opening range. Breaks and fake-breaks of this range define most of the day's story. |
| Morning trend hours | 10:30โ12:00 | 15:30โ17:00 | 21:00โ22:30 | If the open produced displacement, this is where it extends. Lunch (12:00โ13:30 NY) then usually goes quiet. |
| Afternoon & close | 14:00โ16:00 | 19:00โ21:00 | 00:30โ02:30 | Repricing after 2:00 PM news (FOMC days especially) and end-of-day positioning into the 16:00 close. |
US30 is an index quoted in points. There is no "pip" โ and confusing the two is how traders end up 10ร oversized.
| Spec (US30 CFD) | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Quote unit | Index points | 1 point = 1.0 on the index (e.g. 39,000 โ 39,001). Broker quotes may show one decimal. |
| 1 point ยท 1.00 lot | $1 (most brokers) | Most CFD brokers pay $1 per point per 1.00 lot โ but some use $10 per point. Verify yours before your first trade. |
| 100-point move ยท 1.00 lot | $100 (at $1/pt) | A normal opening-hour swing. At a $10/point broker the same move is $1,000. |
| Typical intraday range | Hundreds of points | US30 routinely travels multi-hundred-point days โ size for the range you're actually trading. |
| Spread | Variable | Widens at the cash open and around 8:30 AM / 2:00 PM NY news. Verify with your broker. |
| Margin / leverage | Broker-specific | Verify with your broker โ index CFD leverage differs by regulator. |
In forex a pip is a fixed fraction of the quote (0.0001 on most pairs). On US30 the unit is a whole index point, and the dollar value of that point depends entirely on your broker's contract definition โ $1/point and $10/point contracts both exist under the same "US30" name.
Place one tiny test trade, check the P&L per point, and only then size real positions. Never assume the spec transfers between brokers.
Account $10,000, risking 1% = $100. Stop-loss 50 points beyond the opening-range extreme.
At $1/pt: size = $100 รท (50 ร $1) = 2.00 lots
At $10/pt: size = $100 รท (50 ร $10) = 0.20 lots
Same trade, 10ร size difference โ that's the whole point-vs-pip lesson. The position size calculator has a US30 preset.
Indices are time-of-day markets. The edge isn't a secret pattern โ it's knowing which minutes matter and having the structure marked when they arrive.
The pre-market builds a range; the cash open usually runs one side of it before the real move. Frame the day as a dealing range โ overnight high to overnight low โ and let the open show you which side was the trap. Premium/discount then tells you whether you're chasing or buying value.
ICT Pro's indices preset (1m/5m) plots the midnight open, the NY killzone and the macro timing windows โ the full time-of-day framework the Dow respects.
ICT Pro โFirst 30โ60 minutes = the day's reference range. SMC SNIPER Part 2 includes an ORB module, and Part 1 marks whether the "break" swept liquidity or displaced with intent.
SMC Sniper โPrior-day and prior-week highs and lows are the Dow's favourite targets. Auto-marked levels with sweep markers show the raid the moment it completes.
SMC Sniper โ8:30 AM data and 2:00 PM FOMC statements reprice the index in seconds. Trade the structure that forms after the spike, not the spike itself.
Economic calendar โICT Pro is built for exactly this market: killzones, the midnight open, macro timing windows and nine named models graded by a 25-point confluence score. Pair it with SMC SNIPER on 5mโ15m for the pure-structure view โ inducement-validated swings, PDH/PDL sweep markers and graded order blocks โ so every timing signal lands inside mapped structure.
ICT Pro and SMC SNIPER plot the killzones, opening range and liquidity levels before the bell rings โ so the decisive minutes find you prepared.
