ICT Trading Sessions and Kill Zones – Smart Money Trading

Timing is a key factor for successful trading. Stock market opens on specific times and closes on defined timing. There is only one session in which stock trading occurs. However, forex markets operate differently. In forex market, we have four sessions and kill zones. When we observe behavior of volume, we will find out that not all timings and sessions have high volatility.

Michael J. Huddleston makes the thing quite easy to analyze. He came up with the idea of ICT Kill zones. These zones are volatile (high volume) and provide much better trading opportunity during a day. This article covers all 4 ICT kill zones.

Understanding ICT Trading Sessions and Kill zones

In general ICT teachings are focused on identifying high-probability trading opportunities based on market structure, liquidity, and timing. When it comes to successful intraday trading, it is important to consider trading sessions and ICT Kill zones.

In forex market, we have four sessions in trading. These sessions include Asian, London, New York and Sydney session. Among them New York is the most volatile session in forex day trading. Sydney session is relatively quiet when compared to other sessions. Not all pairs work the same in each session. Each session has their own pairs to focus on.

Kill zones works differently. Kill zones are specific time windows within these trading sessions where volatility and liquidity peak. These time windows offer optimal trading opportunities. Kill zones are time windows where two session overlaps.

ICT Asian Session and Kill Zone

ICT session starts from 7:00 PM and ends at 4:00AM (New York est). The following are the characteristics of the Asian Session:

• Asian session has low volatility and price movement when compared with London and New York Session. In this session, currency pairs with JPY, AUD, or NZD exhibit higher activity during this session.
• Price often consolidated in a tight range. This allows market to engineer liquidity on both sides of the market and serve as a setup for London session liquidity grabs.
• JPY, AUD, and NZD pairs are tradables during the session.
• The session sometime provide liquidity to clear stops order or induce trades in preparation for the high-volume London session.

ICT Asian Kill zone is timed between 7:00 PM to 11 PM New York time. It identifies window of opportunities within the session. The following are the characteristics of Asian Kill Zone:

• Market tends to establish a tight range during this kill zone.
• Price often sweeps stops just above or below the Asian range, inducing traders to enter prematurely. These traps set the stage for more significant moves during the London Open Kill Zone.

Apart from this general perception, one must analyze market structure on higher timeframe. Monitor price action around the session high or low. In order to align with the structure, look for Break of structure (BOS) or change of character (CHOCH) to confirm direction of the move.

ICT London Session and Kill Zone

ICT London session starts from 2:00 AM and ends at 11:00 AM (New York EST). The following are the characteristics of the London Session:

• London session has high volatility. The opening of the European markets injects significant volume into the forex market.
• Price tends to breakout of the Asian session range. Market often creates new swing highs or lows during this session. In this session, liquidity grabs and stop hunts are common around key levels.
• Pairs like EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/JPY, and GBP/JPY exhibit strong volatility and clear trends.
• The session often coincides with European economic releases, influencing market direction. News releases often result in high volatility in the above mentioned pairs.

ICT Asian Kill zone is timed between 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM EST New York time. It identifies window of opportunities within the session. The following are the characteristics of London Kill Zone:

• This session focuses on liquidity manipulations and breakouts.
• It overlaps with the tail end of the Asian session, allowing for liquidity grabs and the exploitation of stops placed around the Asian session highs and lows.

The London Session and Kill Zone are invaluable for traders due to their liquidity and volatility. By understanding the patterns of liquidity manipulation, price expansion, and reversals, traders can capture high-probability moves while managing risks effectively

ICT New York Session and Kill Zone

ICT New York Session starts from 8:00 AM and ends at 5:00 PM EST. The following are the characteristics of New York Session:

• The session starts with overlapping activity from the London session. This overlapping time period is the most volatile time of the whole trading day. This time period results in significant market participation.
• During this session, USD-based currency pairs and commodities like gold and oil exhibit sharp price movements.
• In this session, institutions play an important role in exploiting liquidity at session highs and lows.
• New York session aligns with key U.S. economic data releases. Most influentials are non-farm payroll (NFP), inflation reports and GDP data.
• This session often continues trends established during the London session or causes significant reversals near key levels.

New York kill zone is a session within the session. ICT traders employ institutional trading strategies to capture high-probability trading setups based on institutional activity. New York kill zone starts at 7:00 AM and ends at 10:00 AM EST. The following are the characteristics of ICT New York Kill Zone:

• In New York Kill zone, institutions exploit stops around London session highs and lows.
• As we have said, there are key economic releases which results in sharp movements. Price movement during the session rather confirm or invalidate the London trend.
• Generally, in this session, market results in a strong volume. Institutions participate heavily during the kill zone which lead to meaningful price action.
• In a market structure, if there is a change in a market structure or there is a break in key structural levels (break of structure or change of character), this will signal institutional shift in direction.

The New York session and kill zones are crucial time period for capturing high-probability trade setups. ICT kill zones and sessions are useful when used along with other ICT concepts like Market structure, Break of structure, Change of Character, Fair value Gaps, and Order Blocks. Using the concepts in their trading enables them to find the trade effectively.

Final Note

ICT teachings provide structured way of trading. These frameworks are used to trade key market sessions and kill zones. However, trading involves significant risk due to market volatility, news events, and unforeseen price movements.

It is crucial for traders to apply proper risk management. This involves using stoploss and maintaining appropriate position sizing. One must have a well-defined trading plan. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Traders should use capital for trading that they can afford to lose.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)