Most days set one end of their range early and the other end late. On a day that closes up, the low usually comes in the first half hour and the high near the close. A down day is the mirror image.
The last half hour is the most common time for an up day's high. It printed there on 25.9% of up days.
The middle of the day rarely sets either end. On up days, only 13.6% of lows came between late morning and early afternoon.
What to do with it
This sorts days by how they closed, so it can't tell you in the morning which kind of day you're in. What it does tell you is where the extremes usually sit once a day picks a side.
If you're long on a day that's working, the high comes in the last half hour more often than in any other half hour. A habit of closing every winner before lunch closes it before the most common time for the high.
Shorts get the same picture upside down. On down days the low came in the last half hour 24.4% of the time.
An example day
Meta on October 5, 2026 closed up and made its low in the first candle. The high came at 11:20 AM, earlier than most up days.
Play it from the open in Market Replay and see if you'd have sold the high or held for a close that never got back there.
| Half hour starting | Up days: low | Up days: high | Down days: high | Down days: low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 AM | 56.1% | 17.4% | 59.1% | 16.9% |
| 10:00 AM | 11.1% | 7.3% | 10.4% | 8.2% |
| 10:30 AM | 6.1% | 5.4% | 4.7% | 5.7% |
| 11:00 AM | 4.5% | 5.3% | 3.8% | 5.1% |
| 11:30 AM | 3.5% | 4.3% | 2.8% | 4.6% |
| 12:00 PM | 2.7% | 4.1% | 2.8% | 4.3% |
| 12:30 PM | 2.7% | 3.6% | 2.3% | 4.8% |
| 1:00 PM | 2.5% | 3.6% | 2.7% | 4.4% |
| 1:30 PM | 2.1% | 4.8% | 1.5% | 4.8% |
| 2:00 PM | 2.3% | 4.9% | 2.0% | 4.9% |
| 2:30 PM | 1.7% | 5.5% | 2.2% | 5.0% |
| 3:00 PM | 1.4% | 7.8% | 1.6% | 6.8% |
| 3:30 PM | 3.2% | 25.9% | 4.0% | 24.4% |
How we counted
Regular-hours 5-minute bars for SPY, QQQ, IWM, Apple, Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia from March 2023 to October 2026, half days left out. An up day closed above the prior session's close and a down day closed below it. Each day's low and high go in the half hour where they first printed, and late morning to early afternoon means the candles from half past eleven to two o'clock. Prices are TraderPier's own trade data, as traded and not adjusted. These are seven large names that mostly rose over this stretch, so smaller stocks may behave differently.
Questions
What time of day are stocks lowest?
On days that close up, most often in the first half hour after the open. That's where 56.1% of up days made their low.
What time of day are stocks highest?
On days that close up, most often in the last half hour before the close. That's where 25.9% of up days made their high.
Does premarket count?
No. Only regular hours count, so a premarket high or low isn't part of it.