Market Profile day types
Market Profile day types classify a session by how its range developed relative to the initial balance: non-trend, normal, normal variation, trend, double-distribution trend and neutral days. The classification, set out in Dalton's Mind Over Markets, describes how much other-timeframe activity entered the session and where, and it is usually settled only as the day develops or after the close.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
The six types
| Day type | Initial balance | Range extension | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-trend | Narrow | Little or none | Little participation; no conviction either way |
| Normal | Wide | Little or none | Early activity set the range, which then held |
| Normal variation | Moderate | One side, moderate | Other-timeframe activity extended one side |
| Trend | Narrow | Large, one side, often early | Sustained one-sided control; close near the extreme |
| Double-distribution trend | Narrow | One side, in a jump | Two separate value areas joined by thin trade |
| Neutral | Moderate | Both sides | Both sides active; the close decides: center or extreme |
How to classify a session
- Mark the initial balance, the range of the first two thirty-minute brackets of the regular session.
- Watch where and when range extension happens: early or late, one side or both.
- Note how the profile is shaped: a single distribution, an elongated one, or two distributions separated by single prints.
- Read the close: in the middle of the range, at an extreme, or back inside after extending both ways.
- Compare with previous sessions of the same instrument; narrow and wide are relative.
A worked example
An index future builds an initial balance of 10 points while its recent sessions averaged about 20. Around midday it extends 8 points below the IB, rotates back, then extends 12 points above the IB in the last two hours and closes near the high. Extension on both sides makes it a neutral day; the close at the extreme makes it a neutral-extreme day, meaning the side that extended last won the session. Had it closed back in the middle of the range, it would have been neutral-center.
Limits of the classification
- It is descriptive. Early in the session, several types remain possible, and the label can change until the close.
- Thresholds for narrow, moderate and wide are not fixed by the theory; they must be defined against the instrument's own history.
- The session definition matters: the regular-hours profile and the full CME day are different auctions and can receive different labels.
In Senzoukria
There is no day-type classifier. The Market Profile (TPO) overlay provides the ingredients: the 'RTH indices (8:30–15:00 CT)' period for regular-hours profiles on ES and NQ, 'Initial balance' with 'IB brackets' set to two by default, 'TPO letters' with 'Split columns', 'Single prints & tails', 'Open & close markers' and 'Profile statistics'. The standalone Initial Balance and IB Extensions overlays follow the indicator engine's session, which for CME futures starts at 17:00 Chicago time, so on ES and NQ they measure the first hour of the Globex session rather than of the regular session. Session Range Position shows where the close sits in the running session range.
Related
In the same section
- Open types
- Market profile
- Market regime
- Market order protection
- Market replay
- Market order
- Market-if-touched order
- Microstructure
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Frequently asked questions
- Which day type is the most common?
- Frequencies depend on the instrument, the period studied and how narrow, moderate and wide are defined, so published figures do not transfer from one market to another. Classify your own instrument's sessions with fixed rules and count them if you want a base rate.
- Can you know the day type at the open?
- No. The open and the first hour give clues, such as the type of open and the width of the initial balance, but the type is decided by the range extension and the close, which come later. Treat an early label as a hypothesis to be updated.