The DAX night and the pre-open: from 2:10 am to 9 am

The night: a range to measure, not to trade

The FDAX resumes trading in the middle of the night, at 2:10 am Paris summer time, 1:10 am in winter time. Eurex pegs this restart to the Asian session, and Frankfurt time reflects it. Until 8 am, the book is held by a few market makers and algos tracking the Nikkei, the Hang Seng and the US futures.

This is not a trading window, it is a measurement window. Two things to note every morning:

• The night's high and low. The DAX overnight range is generally narrow, often under 60 points. Its two boundaries are levels the morning will frequently test, because they frame the only price the market accepted for six hours.
• The FDAX price relative to the previous day's settlement. A future that opens its night 80 points above the 5:30 pm settlement tells of a bullish American night; the morning will have to decide whether the German cash market confirms that price.