What is SPY?

SPY is the ticker of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, now marketed as the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust. It launched on January 22, 1993 as the first exchange-traded fund listed in the US, and it trades on NYSE Arca. It holds the stocks in the S&P 500, about 500 large US companies from every sector, weighted by market value.

For a day trader, that means one chart shows the whole US stock market. When people say the market is up or down today, SPY is usually what they are looking at. It also has a very active options market with expirations every trading day. This guide covers trading the ETF itself, not options.

Why do day traders use SPY?

Liquidity comes first. Heavy volume passes through SPY in regular hours, so the bid-ask spread is usually a cent or two and your orders fill close to the price on your screen. That keeps the cost of each round trip small, which adds up when you trade more than once a day.

SPY is also hard to move with news about one company. A single stock can gap 10% or more on one earnings report. SPY spreads that risk across hundreds of companies, and its biggest moves tend to come from economic news that is scheduled on a public calendar.

The trade-off is that SPY usually moves less in percentage terms than a volatile single stock, so you need more shares for the same dollar risk. If you want an index ETF that tends to swing harder on tech news, read the QQQ day trading guide.

When to trade SPY: the session in New York and Riyadh time

SPY's regular session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. In Riyadh that is 4:30 to 11:00 p.m. until November 1, 2026, then 5:30 p.m. to midnight once US clocks fall back. Holidays and a live clock are on our US stock market hours page. SPY also trades pre-market and after-hours, with thinner volume and wider spreads.

The session has a rhythm. It does not repeat every day, but it shows up often enough to plan around. Riyadh times below are for US summer time; add one hour from November 1.

  • The open, 9:30 to about 10:30 a.m. ET (4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Riyadh): the most volume and the widest swings. The gap gets tested, and early moves often reverse.
  • Late morning, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. ET: the first real trend of the day often appears as price breaks out of the opening range or fails at its edge.
  • Midday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET (6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Riyadh): volume thins and SPY crosses VWAP back and forth. Many breakouts here fail.
  • The last hour, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET (10:00 to 11:00 p.m. Riyadh): volume returns as funds position for the close, and the morning trend extends or reverses, sometimes quickly.

Turn your phone sideways to read the drawing. Tap to close.

Hand-drawn half-hour volume bars across SPY's regular session, illustrative and U-shaped: tallest at the open and in the last hour, lowest at midday. Bands above mark the open (9:30 to 10:30 a.m. ET, widest swings), the first real trend (10:30 to 11:30), midday (11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., thin volume and VWAP chop) and the last hour (3:00 to 4:00 p.m., volume returns). Under the axis, each New York time has its Riyadh time in US summer time, from 4:30 to 11:00 p.m., with a note to add one hour from November 1.

Which levels should you mark on SPY before the open?

SPY reacts at levels that many traders watch, precisely because so many traders watch them. Mark these before 9:30 a.m. ET and ignore the rest. When two of them sit within a few cents of each other, treat them as one zone.

  • Prior day high, low and close. Yesterday's extremes are where buyers and sellers last gave up, and the close tells you whether today opened with a gap.
  • Pre-market high and low. Turn on extended hours in TradingView's chart settings to see them, mark them, then switch back to regular hours so VWAP matches the regular session.
  • The opening range: the high and low of the first 15 minutes, 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. ET. A 5-minute range is faster and noisier; a 30-minute range is slower and cleaner.
  • Session VWAP. Favor longs above a rising VWAP and shorts below a falling one. The reclaim and rejection setups are in our VWAP trading strategy guide.
  • Round numbers. Whole-dollar and $5 levels can attract orders, especially when they line up with one of the levels above.

A worked SPY day trade plan, step by step

Here is a full hypothetical. The prices are made up to keep the math simple and are not a forecast. Yesterday SPY's high was $503.00, its low $497.20 and its close $500.40. Pre-market ranged from $499.60 to $501.20. The first 15 minutes set an opening range of $499.80 to $501.40, so the pre-market high and the opening range high form one zone from $501.20 to $501.40.

At 10:05 a.m. ET a 5-minute candle closes above $501.40, with VWAP at $500.70 and rising. You do not buy that candle. You wait for a retest: by 10:20 price dips to $501.25, holds the zone, and a candle closes at $501.60. That close is the trigger.

Sizing has a catch specific to SPY. Risking 0.5% of a $20,000 account is $100, and $100 ÷ $0.60 = 166 shares. But 166 shares at $501.60 is about $83,000 of SPY, over four times the account. A $20,000 cash account buys only 39 shares, which risks $23.40 on this stop. Take the smaller number, never widen the stop to fit a size, and read your broker's margin rules before using any leverage. Trades like this fail some of the time, and day trading can lose money fast.

  1. Entry: $501.60, on the close back up from the retest.
  2. Stop: $501.00, under the zone and the retest low. Risk is $0.60 a share.
  3. Target: $503.00, yesterday's high. Reward is $1.40, about 2.3 times the risk.
  4. Size: the smaller of 166 shares (risk-based) and what your buying power allows.
  5. Time stop: if the target has not hit by 11:30 a.m. ET, when the lunch lull starts, close the trade or tighten the stop.
  6. Plan B: if SPY instead loses $499.60 and VWAP turns down, the mirror setup is a short toward $497.20, if your account allows shorting.

Turn your phone sideways to read the drawing. Tap to close.

A hand-drawn 5-minute SPY chart from 9:30 to 10:20 a.m. ET: an opening range from $499.80 to $501.40, a shaded zone from $501.20 to $501.40, a breakout candle closing above it at 10:05 with VWAP rising underneath, then a retest at 10:20 that holds and closes at $501.60. Tags mark the target at yesterday's high, $503.00, the entry at $501.60 and the stop at $501.00 (−0.60 / +1.40). A side card shows the sizing catch: 0.5% × $20,000 = $100; $100 ÷ $0.60 = 166 shares; 166 × $501.60 ≈ $83,000, over four times the account; a $20,000 cash account buys only 39 shares, so take the smaller number.

What news moves SPY? CPI, the jobs report and the Fed

SPY is the market, so it reacts most to news about the whole US economy. Three releases stand above the rest: the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the monthly jobs report and the Federal Reserve's rate decision (FOMC). CPI and the jobs report come out at 8:30 a.m. ET, an hour before the open, so the reaction usually shows up as a gap and a fast first few minutes. The FOMC statement comes out at 2:00 p.m. ET on the second day of a Fed meeting, with the chair's press conference at 2:30, and it can upend a quiet afternoon within minutes.

In Riyadh, 8:30 a.m. ET is 3:30 p.m. until November 1 and 4:30 p.m. after it; 2:00 p.m. ET is 9:00 p.m., then 10:00 p.m. Dates change every month, so check an economic calendar each morning; TradingView has one built in. Earnings from the biggest companies in the index move SPY too.

  • Do not open a position you would still be holding when a scheduled release hits.
  • Let the first 5 to 15 minutes after the number pass before you trust any level.
  • Expect wider swings on these days, and cut the share count so your dollar risk stays the same.
  • On a Fed day, decide in advance whether you will be flat at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Common mistakes when day trading SPY

Most SPY losses come from a short list of repeat errors:

  • Trading the first five minutes, before the opening range exists, when early moves often reverse.
  • Treating every VWAP cross as a signal. On flat days and at midday, SPY crosses the line again and again.
  • Sizing by feel. SPY moves in cents, so traders size up to make it feel worth it, and then one stop costs far more than planned.
  • Ignoring the calendar. A clean-looking setup at 1:55 p.m. ET on a Fed day can be erased in seconds at 2:00.
  • Forcing trades in the 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET lull, when volume is thin and ranges are small.
  • Mixing chart sessions. VWAP and the opening range look different with extended hours on, so pick one view and keep it.

How UpTickFlow can help you trade SPY

UpTickFlow is our own invite-only TradingView indicator, and SPY is the kind of symbol it was designed for: a liquid US ETF on 5-minute to 1-hour charts during the regular session. It builds its zones from the levels in this guide, including swing pivots, the prior day's high and low, the opening range and daily and weekly levels, and it treats session VWAP as a dynamic level.

It also applies the timing rules for you: no new signals in the first 10 minutes after the open, none in the 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. ET lull or the last 30 minutes, and never more than two in a session. When ATR is unusually high or low, as can happen around a CPI or Fed release, it stands aside. Signals use closed bars and come with an entry, stop and target drawn on the chart; the size stays your call. It filters setups and gives you a plan; it does not predict SPY. Details are on the pricing page.