New high and low of the day: what they are, and how to test them
A new high of the day is a bar that trades above everything the session has done so far. A new low of the day is the mirror image. Some traders follow them as strength; others fade them. Here is the exact rule QuantLogic uses, so you can test both readings.
What it is
The session here is the regular session from 09:30 New York time, not the overnight hours.
Early in the day almost every bar makes a new high or low; later they get rarer.
The exact rule QuantLogic uses
New high of the day, on one-minute bars. The new low is the mirror image.
- This bar's high is above the high of every earlier bar of today's regular session.
- The session's first bar counts as a new high and a new low.
When is it known? Known when the bar closes. Only earlier bars of the same session are compared.
Versions you can build
- New high of the day. A high above every earlier high of the session.
- New low of the day. A low below every earlier low of the session.
What to look at around it
In QuantLogic, every time the idea happened is laid out with the data points around it, so you can see where it held and where it didn't:
Traps when you test it
- Mixing the first minutes with the rest of the day. Time of day is worth filtering on here.
- Using the overnight high. This rule only looks at the regular session.
- Testing one reading only. Check following the new high and fading it, longs and shorts.
Build it and test it yourself
Open New high of the day in Build with QuantLogic. See every time it happened on NQ, ES, Gold or Crude since September 2025, check the long and the short side, add your own filters and run the luck test.
Nothing is proven until it holds live. We give no trading signals and no advice, we never hold your money or your accounts, and we never trade for you.
Questions
- Does the overnight session count?
- No. Only bars from 09:30 New York time onward.
- Does a close above the high matter?
- No. The bar's high only has to trade above every earlier high.
Related setups
Setup library
Liquidity sweeps, break of structure, VWAP, the opening range and more, drawn and explained with the exact rule.
Yesterday's high and low
At, through or back from the prior session's high, low and close.
Opening range
A close above or below the first 15 minutes' high or low, or a failed break.
Round numbers
A close through a round level: every 100 points on NQ, 25 on ES, 10 on Gold, 0.50 on Crude.
Break of structure
A close past the last swing high in an uptrend, or the last swing low in a downtrend.
Educational content, not investment advice. Futures trading involves substantial risk of loss. See the risk disclosure.