What are the differences between Extended Trading Hours (ETH) and Regular Trading Hours (RTH)?
Extended Trading Hours (ETH) cover almost 24 hours a day, including overnight sessions, and allow global participation. However, with fewer traders active during this time, liquidity tends to be lower, and price movements are often more volatile and unpredictable.
Regular Trading Hours (RTH), from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM CST, has significantly more trading activity, especially from institutional investors. This higher volume results in better liquidity and more stable price action.
What Does the Toggle Feature Do?
The new feature in TopstepX allows traders to easily switch between Extended Trading Hours (ETH) and Regular Trading Hours (RTH) charts.
Why Is It Important?
Market Analysis Flexibility: Traders can now easily toggle between ETH and RTH to adjust their charts and strategies to spot areas with the most liquidity and volatility.
Better Decision-Making: Being able to analyze both ETH and RTH charts provides traders with a more complete market view, allowing them to identify patterns or gaps that may only appear during one period or another.
More Targeted Strategies: Some strategies perform better during ETH, where price movements might be slower and less volatile, while others thrive during the fast-paced RTH. The toggle allows traders to adjust their approach depending on market conditions.
Price Gaps Management: The gap between the RTH and ETH sessions can be more easily spotted and charted by toggling to RTH.
Timeframe Hours
Product | Regular Trading Hours | Extended Trading Hours |
Equity Index Futures (S&P 500, NASDAQ, Dow) | 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM CT | 5:00 PM (previous day) to 8:30 AM CT (next day) |
Crude Oil Futures (CL) | 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM CT | 5:00 PM (previous day) to 8:00 AM CT (next day) |
Gold Futures (GC) | 8:20 AM to 1:30 PM CT | 5:00 PM (previous day) to 8:20 AM CT (next day) |
Agricultural Futures (Corn, Soybeans) | 8:30 AM to 1:20 PM CT | 7:00 PM (previous day) to 8:30 AM CT (next day) |
Treasury Futures (10-Year Notes) | 8:30 AM to 1:20 PM CT | 7:00 PM (previous day) to 8:30 AM CT (next day) |
ETH/RTH Toggling for Strategies
The ability to toggle between Extended Trading Hours (ETH) and Regular Trading Hours (RTH) is great for trading strategies that rely on market structure, liquidity, and volatility. Here are some strategies where this feature can be beneficial:
Gap Trading: is all about spotting those price gaps that form between the previous day’s close and the current day’s open. These gaps usually happen due to overnight news or events; you’ll see them most when transitioning from ETH to RTH. With the new toggle feature, you can switch between ETH and RTH to get a clearer picture of where gaps formed and decide how to trade them.
Breakout Trading: looks for levels where the price breaks out from a support or resistance zone. Since RTH has more liquidity, breakouts can be more reliable. ETH breakouts still happen but can be less reliable events due to lower volume. You can dial in your entry and exit targets by toggling between sessions based on where and when potential breakout levels are formed.
Volume Profile and Supply/Demand Trading: uses volume data to pinpoint areas where institutional buying or selling is likely happening. For some traders, toggling to RTH helps filter out the “noise” of lower-volume periods and lets them focus on price movements during the most active trading hours. This can make it easier to identify key levels and find more reliable setups.