Pravex
Open the chart

US stock index · SP500

Best time to trade US500, hour by hour

US500 has moved most from 09:00 to 12:00 New York time, 3.1 times its quietest hour, and most on Thursdays. Measured on 3,413 hour candles from 29 March 2026 to 23 October 2026, with the hours on UTC, UK and India time.

18:00 New York: $15.8 on average19:00 New York: $10.7 on average20:00 New York: $14.2 on average21:00 New York: $12.4 on average22:00 New York: $9.7 on average23:00 New York: $8.8 on average00:00 New York: $8.8 on average01:00 New York: $10.4 on average02:00 New York: $11.7 on average03:00 New York: $12.7 on average04:00 New York: $14.1 on average05:00 New York: $11.4 on average06:00 New York: $11.9 on average07:00 New York: $14.4 on average08:00 New York: $19.1 on average09:00 New York: $27.6 on average10:00 New York: $30.9 on average11:00 New York: $23.8 on average12:00 New York: $20.4 on average13:00 New York: $19.3 on average14:00 New York: $18.6 on average15:00 New York: $20.5 on average16:00 New York: $13.7 on average
Average move in each hour, New York time. The hour now is marked.

The busy hours

From 09:00 to 12:00 New York time, an hour's candle of US500 has averaged $27.6, $30.9, $23.8 from high to low: 3.1 times the quietest hour. US data comes out at 08:30 New York, and the US stock market opens at 09:30. The table below puts every hour on four clocks.

The quiet hours

The quietest hour is 23:00 to 00:00 New York, at $8.8 on average (0.12% of the price). US500 stops from 17:00 to 18:00 New York every weekday; the 18:00 hour after it has averaged $15.8.

Every hour on four clocks

New YorkUTCUKIndia (IST)Average moveMedianOf the priceCandles
18:0022:00 to 23:0022:00 to 23:003:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.$15.8$11.80.21%149
19:0023:00 to 00:0023:00 to 00:004:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.$10.7$8.60.14%149
20:0000:00 to 01:0000:00 to 01:005:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.$14.2$12.00.19%149
21:0001:00 to 02:0001:00 to 02:006:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m.$12.4$9.70.17%149
22:0002:00 to 03:0002:00 to 03:007:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.$9.7$7.80.13%149
23:0003:00 to 04:0003:00 to 04:008:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.$8.8$7.70.12%149
00:0004:00 to 05:0004:00 to 05:009:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.$8.8$6.90.12%149
01:0005:00 to 06:0005:00 to 06:0010:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.$10.4$9.70.14%149
02:0006:00 to 07:0006:00 to 07:0011:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.$11.7$10.30.16%149
03:0007:00 to 08:0007:00 to 08:0012:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.$12.7$10.60.17%149
04:0008:00 to 09:0008:00 to 09:001:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.$14.1$12.00.19%149
05:0009:00 to 10:0009:00 to 10:002:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.$11.4$10.20.15%149
06:0010:00 to 11:0010:00 to 11:003:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.$11.9$9.90.16%149
07:0011:00 to 12:0011:00 to 12:004:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.$14.4$12.60.20%148
08:0012:00 to 13:0012:00 to 13:005:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.$19.1$16.00.26%148
09:0013:00 to 14:0013:00 to 14:006:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.$27.6$25.40.37%148
10:0014:00 to 15:0014:00 to 15:007:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.$30.9$27.70.42%148
11:0015:00 to 16:0015:00 to 16:008:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.$23.8$21.30.32%148
12:0016:00 to 17:0016:00 to 17:009:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.$20.4$17.70.28%148
13:0017:00 to 18:0017:00 to 18:0010:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.$19.3$16.80.26%148
14:0018:00 to 19:0018:00 to 19:0011:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.$18.6$15.60.25%148
15:0019:00 to 20:0019:00 to 20:0012:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.$20.5$17.30.28%146
16:0020:00 to 21:0020:00 to 21:001:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m.$13.7$10.50.19%146

Times as they run now; the page moves them when a clock changes. 17:00 New York is the daily pause.

Range by day of the week

Trading dayBarAverage rangeMedianOf the priceDays
Monday$81.3$75.41.11%30
Tuesday$85.2$76.31.16%30
Wednesday$87.0$73.51.18%30
Thursday$94.0$85.71.27%30
Friday$79.4$65.31.06%28

A trading day runs from 18:00 to 17:00 New York time and takes the date it ends, so Monday starts on Sunday evening. 28 to 30 days of each.

How we measured

We took the hour candles of Hyperliquid's SP500 market (xyz:SP500), licensed by S&P Dow Jones Indices on the S&P 500 from 29 March 2026 to 23 October 2026: 3,413 candles, only the hours the real market trades. Each hour figure is the average distance from a candle's high to its low; each day figure is the high to low of a whole trading day (148 of them). Across a whole day US500 moved $85.5 on average in that span, 1.16% of the price. We computed this on 23 October 2026. Busy hours come and go with the news, so treat this as a map of the usual day, not a promise for tomorrow.

Questions and answers

What is the best time to trade US500?

If you want US500 moving, it has moved most from 09:00 to 12:00 New York time. An hour candle there has averaged $27.6, $30.9, $23.8 from high to low, against $8.8 in the quietest hour.

When is US500 quietest?

From 23:00 to 00:00 New York time, at $8.8 on average, 0.12% of the price. It also pauses from 17:00 to 18:00 New York every weekday.

Which day of the week does US500 move most?

Thursday: a trading day has averaged $94.0 from high to low, against $79.4 on Friday. Each weekday has only about 30 days in this data, so one big news day can tilt its figure.

Is US500 open 24 hours?

US500 trades from Sunday 18:00 to Friday 17:00 New York time, with a one-hour pause from 17:00 each day and early stops on some US holidays. Only those hours count here, so there are no weekend candles.

Where US500 is today, with the levels and the day's schedule: US500 today. The chart: the SP500 and XYZ100 chart, or US500 on Pravex, free. The next US releases, with a countdown: economic calendar.

Other markets: Best time to trade gold · Best time to trade silver · Best time to trade oil · Best time to trade NAS100 · Best time to trade bitcoin · Best time to trade Ethereum

Past behaviour, not a forecast. Not financial advice. Read our disclaimer.

Pro charts. Zero paywalls.

Charts for gold, oil, US indices and crypto, with every tool free to use.

Open the chart

No card, no trial, no upgrade pop-ups.