This page documents how MyTradeEdge measured the share of volume and range that the first hour of trading carries in the Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contract (MNQ). It is the source behind the figures quoted in our guide How to Trade Futures. Every number below can be recomputed from the per-session table at the end.
Summary of the results
Across 27 regular sessions, from August 17 to October 13, 2026, the first hour of a typical MNQ session carried 35.0% of the regular-session volume and covered 76.9% of the session’s high-low range. A typical session traded about 1,518,821 contracts and moved 262.25 points from low to high. For each figure, half of the sessions were below it and half above.
| Measure | Typical session (half of the sessions below, half above) |
|---|---|
| First-hour share of regular-session volume | 35.0% |
| First-hour share of the regular-session high-low range | 76.9% |
| Regular-session volume | 1,518,821 contracts |
| Regular-session high-low range | 262.25 points |
What was measured
- Instrument: MNQ, the front-month Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures contract traded on CME Globex.
- Regular session: 9:30 to 16:00 New York time (390 one-minute bars).
- First hour: 9:30 to 10:30 New York time (the first 60 one-minute bars of the session).
- Volume: the number of contracts traded, summed over the one-minute bars.
- High-low range: the highest high minus the lowest low, in index points.
Where the data come from
The data are MyTradeEdge’s own recordings. Our recorder, which runs alongside the MyTradeEdge TradingChart platform, stores the live MNQ market data feed received through Rithmic and saves one file per trading day with one-minute bars (open, high, low, close, volume). No third-party statistics or vendor summaries were used. All figures on this page were recomputed from those daily files.
How the figures were calculated
- For each trading day, we kept the one-minute bars that start between 9:30 and 15:59 New York time.
- We summed the volume of all those bars (session volume) and of the first 60 bars (first-hour volume).
- We took the high-low range of the whole session and of the first hour.
- For each session we divided the first-hour volume by the session volume, and the first-hour range by the session range.
- For each of the four measures, we sorted the 27 sessions and took the middle value: the 14th session, with 13 sessions below it and 13 above. That is what “typical” means on this page.
The first-hour range share is 100% when the session’s high and low were both set in the first hour. That happened in 5 of the 27 sessions.
Which sessions are included
A session was included only if the recording covered the whole first hour (60 bars) and at least 389 of the 390 regular-session minutes. Of the weekdays between August 17 and October 13, 2026, these were left out:
- September 3, 4 and 18, 2026: the recording stopped or started partway through the regular session.
- September 7, 2026 (Labor Day): shortened holiday session.
- September 21 to 29, 2026: no complete recording (no files for September 21 to 28; on September 29 the recording began after 12:30 New York time).
October 1, 2026 is included with 389 of 390 minutes.
How this compares with public CME data
CME Group reported that Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures traded an average of 2.4 million contracts a day in September 2026 and 2.6 million a day in the third quarter of 2026 (CME Group press release, October 2, 2026). Our typical regular-session figure, about 1.5 million contracts, is in the same order of magnitude. The two are not directly comparable: CME counts the full trading day of nearly 23 hours and all contract months, while we count only 9:30 to 16:00 New York time in the front month.
We did not find a free public source that breaks MNQ volume down by hour, so the first-hour shares on this page rest on our recordings alone.
Limits of these measurements
- One contract, one period. The figures describe MNQ between August 17 and October 13, 2026. They are not a forecast and say nothing about other contracts or other months.
- Regular session only. Overnight trading on Globex is not part of the calculation.
- Recording gaps. Our own recordings can miss data. Sessions with an incomplete feed (September 14 to 17, 2026) were removed; a gap we did not detect could still affect a session in the table.
- Not official exchange volume. The volume is what our feed recorded, not CME’s official daily volume report, and the two may differ.
- Small sample. 27 sessions are enough to describe this period, not to establish a rule.
Per-session values
Times are New York time. Volume is in contracts, range is in index points.
| Session | Minutes recorded | Session volume | First-hour volume | First-hour share of volume | Session range | First-hour range | First-hour share of range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Aug 17, 2026 | 390 | 1,380,136 | 484,988 | 35.1% | 220.25 | 109.25 | 49.6% |
| Tue, Aug 18, 2026 | 390 | 1,668,256 | 626,542 | 37.6% | 256.00 | 201.75 | 78.8% |
| Wed, Aug 19, 2026 | 390 | 1,831,774 | 727,094 | 39.7% | 366.25 | 366.25 | 100.0% |
| Thu, Aug 20, 2026 | 390 | 1,767,841 | 638,473 | 36.1% | 267.75 | 165.75 | 61.9% |
| Fri, Aug 21, 2026 | 390 | 1,424,856 | 525,484 | 36.9% | 268.25 | 252.25 | 94.0% |
| Mon, Aug 24, 2026 | 390 | 1,545,582 | 552,697 | 35.8% | 296.00 | 296.00 | 100.0% |
| Tue, Aug 25, 2026 | 390 | 1,419,682 | 498,541 | 35.1% | 270.50 | 206.75 | 76.4% |
| Wed, Aug 26, 2026 | 390 | 1,548,788 | 580,949 | 37.5% | 212.50 | 177.00 | 83.3% |
| Thu, Aug 27, 2026 | 390 | 1,733,239 | 649,715 | 37.5% | 280.00 | 198.25 | 70.8% |
| Fri, Aug 28, 2026 | 390 | 2,050,203 | 610,091 | 29.8% | 374.75 | 202.00 | 53.9% |
| Mon, Aug 31, 2026 | 390 | 1,474,059 | 516,485 | 35.0% | 184.00 | 163.00 | 88.6% |
| Tue, Sep 1, 2026 | 390 | 1,679,005 | 485,060 | 28.9% | 315.50 | 139.00 | 44.1% |
| Wed, Sep 2, 2026 | 390 | 1,365,659 | 466,590 | 34.2% | 194.50 | 176.75 | 90.9% |
| Tue, Sep 8, 2026 | 390 | 1,411,638 | 504,515 | 35.7% | 262.25 | 262.25 | 100.0% |
| Wed, Sep 9, 2026 | 390 | 1,453,920 | 475,526 | 32.7% | 235.75 | 177.00 | 75.1% |
| Thu, Sep 10, 2026 | 390 | 1,518,821 | 494,597 | 32.6% | 217.50 | 146.00 | 67.1% |
| Fri, Sep 11, 2026 | 390 | 1,339,857 | 453,921 | 33.9% | 165.50 | 127.75 | 77.2% |
| Wed, Sep 30, 2026 | 390 | 1,683,991 | 261,150 | 15.5% | 223.75 | 128.00 | 57.2% |
| Thu, Oct 1, 2026 | 389 | 1,969,140 | 461,048 | 23.4% | 352.00 | 264.00 | 75.0% |
| Fri, Oct 2, 2026 | 390 | 1,902,703 | 590,060 | 31.0% | 294.75 | 226.75 | 76.9% |
| Mon, Oct 5, 2026 | 390 | 1,306,681 | 448,278 | 34.3% | 327.00 | 204.00 | 62.4% |
| Tue, Oct 6, 2026 | 390 | 1,328,033 | 453,115 | 34.1% | 159.00 | 124.25 | 78.1% |
| Wed, Oct 7, 2026 | 390 | 1,566,049 | 536,106 | 34.2% | 271.00 | 141.75 | 52.3% |
| Thu, Oct 8, 2026 | 390 | 2,157,664 | 486,814 | 22.6% | 578.00 | 213.00 | 36.9% |
| Fri, Oct 9, 2026 | 390 | 1,318,761 | 492,903 | 37.4% | 197.50 | 197.50 | 100.0% |
| Mon, Oct 12, 2026 | 390 | 1,164,718 | 495,398 | 42.5% | 206.50 | 191.25 | 92.6% |
| Tue, Oct 13, 2026 | 390 | 1,464,626 | 539,199 | 36.8% | 223.75 | 223.75 | 100.0% |
Last updated: October 20, 2026.