ICT Decoded · Intraday bias

What Is ICT Intraday Bias and How Do You Find It?

By Steve H — reads every firm’s official rulebook, checks prices and codes daily, and maintains the Enigma Score · Methodology · Editorial policy · Last updated October 31, 2026

ICT concepts were created and are taught by Michael J. Huddleston, The Inner Circle Trader (X · YouTube). This lesson is FundedEnigma’s own summary, not affiliated with or endorsed by ICT.

In short: ICT intraday bias is the daily bias read run on the four-hour candles: your read of which side of the last four-hour candle's range the next one is more likely to reach, its high or its low. Daily bias gives you the draw for the day; intraday bias gives you the draw for the next four hours.

Daily Bias Isn't Enough: How to Find ICT Intraday Bias on the 4-Hour Chart · 7:51 · published October 31, 2026 · part of the ICT Concepts Decoded playlist

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The full video is embedded above this article: Daily Bias Isn't Enough: How to Find ICT Intraday Bias on the 4-Hour Chart. This page is the written version, with every chart walked through step by step. Jump to any part of the video:

0:00 Intro
0:41 What intraday bias is
1:10 The six four-hour candles
1:37 Reading the last candle
2:23 Daily bias vs intraday bias
2:59 Inside the four-hour candle
3:27 Example 1
4:40 Example 2
6:13 What the data says
7:02 Recap

Key facts: intraday bias at a glance

Term	What it is	What it tells you
Intraday bias	Which side of the last four-hour candle's range the next one is more likely to reach	The draw for the next four hours: the last candle's high or low
Four-hour candles	Six per futures day: 6 PM, 10 PM, 2 AM, 6 AM, 10 AM and 2 PM New York time	The 2 AM candle holds London, the 6 AM candle holds New York and the 9:30 open
Displacement	The last candle ran the level before it and closed beyond it	Continuation: the read points the same way
Failure	The last candle ran the level before it but closed back inside	The other side: the read turns
No clean read	The last candle stayed inside, or took both sides	Wait for the next candle
The last candle's 50%	Halfway between the last four-hour candle's high and low	The line the read has to respect
Daily bias	Which side of yesterday's range today is more likely to reach	Frames the day; the four-hour read frames the next four hours

Last verified 2026-10-31. All charts below are real historical CME NQ futures data, shown in New York time. Four-hour candles start at the 6 PM futures open; the 2 PM candle ends at the 5 PM close.

NQ 4-hour chart, August 14 to 18, 2026: from the afternoon of August 17 six four-hour candles in a row close below the low of the candle before; five times the next candle trades below that low, down to 29,514.00 — NQ 4H, Aug 17-18, 2026. Six bearish reads in a row.

Here is the idea on one chart. From the afternoon of August 17, 2026, six four-hour candles in a row closed below the low of the candle before. Five times, the next candle traded below that low, from 30,078.25 down to 29,514.00.

What is intraday bias in trading?

Intraday bias asks the daily bias question one candle size down: which side of the last four-hour candle's range is the next four-hour candle more likely to reach? Its high has buy stops above it and its low has sell stops below it, so the side you expect is your draw on liquidity for the next four hours.

What time do the 4-hour candles open, and which ones matter?

On a futures chart in New York time the trading day has six four-hour candles: 6 PM, 10 PM, 2 AM, 6 AM, 10 AM and 2 PM. The 2 AM candle holds the London killzone, the 6 AM candle holds the New York killzone and the 9:30 open, and the 10 AM candle covers the late morning. The 2 PM candle is shorter: it ends at the 5 PM close. See killzones for the windows.

NQ 15-minute chart, August 4, 2026, split into the six four-hour candles of the futures day, with the 2 AM, 6 AM and 10 AM candles highlighted — The six four-hour candles of one futures day.

How do you find intraday bias?

Compare the last four-hour candle with the one before it. A close beyond the level before it is displacement (continuation); a run through it that closes back inside is failure (the other side). It is the same read as daily bias.

Bullish read: displacement above

The last candle ran the high before it and closed above it. The read is bullish, and the draw is the last candle's high. Below the low, the mirror is bearish.

Diagram of displacement: the last four-hour candle runs the high of the candle before it and closes above it, so the read is bullish and the draw is the last candle's high — Closed above the high before it: bullish.

Bearish read: failure at the high

The last candle ran the high before it but closed back below. The read turns bearish, and the draw is the last candle's low. A failure under the low turns it bullish. Inside, or both sides taken: no clean read, so wait for the next candle.

Then mark the last candle's 50%. On a bullish read, price should hold above it; on a bearish read, below it. It does the same job as yesterday's 50% in the daily bias lesson.

Diagram of failure: the last four-hour candle runs the high before it and closes back below, so the read is bearish; the last candle's 50% is marked as the line to respect — Ran the high, closed back below: bearish.

How does intraday bias fit with daily bias?

Start with the daily read: it is the day's draw, and its own two warning signs decide when it is wrong. Then read each four-hour candle as it closes.

They agree: the four-hour draws are steps on the way to the day's draw.
They disagree: the four-hour read can simply be the first move against the bias, the open and low part of an open, low, high, close day. The daily bias stands until its own warning signs show up.
The day's draw is reached early: the daily bias has done its job, and the four-hour reads still give you a map for the rest of the day.

What happens inside the four-hour candle?

Look for the same shape as a daily candle: on a bullish read, open, low, high, close; on a bearish read, open, high, low, close. The first move against the read should stop before the last candle's 50%. Then drop to the five-minute chart: a stop raid, then a change in state of delivery or a market structure shift, says the candle's high or low may be in.

Diagram of a bullish four-hour candle: it opens, trades lower first to make its low above the last candle's 50%, then runs up to its high — Bullish read: open, low, high, close.

What does intraday bias look like on real charts?

A bullish day and a bearish day, each read from the daily chart first, then the four-hour candles, then the lower timeframe.

Example 1: a bullish day, NQ, August 4, 2026

NQ 4-hour chart, August 3 to 4, 2026: the 2 AM, 6 AM, 10 AM and 2 PM candles each have a bullish read and each takes the high of the candle before — NQ 4H, Aug 4, 2026. Four bullish reads, four highs taken.

On August 3, 2026, price closes at 28,929.25, above the July 31 high of 28,725.75. Displacement: the daily read for the 4th is bullish.
The draw, the August 3 high at 28,964.25, is taken at 7:59 PM that evening. The daily bias is done before midnight.
The four-hour candles take over. The 2 AM, 6 AM, 10 AM and 2 PM candles each have a bullish read, and each one takes the high of the candle before.

NQ 15-minute chart, August 4, 2026: the 6 AM candle's high at 29,503.75 as the draw, its 50% at 29,285.50, the 10 AM candle's low at 29,432.00 in its first minute and its high at 29,898.75 at 13:49 — NQ 15M, Aug 4, 2026. The 10 AM candle: open, low, high, close.

Take the 10 AM candle. The 6 AM candle closed at 29,466.00, above the 2 AM high of 29,131.50. Displacement: the draw is the 6 AM high, 29,503.75.
The candle opens, and in its first minute it makes its low, 29,432.00, far above the 6 AM candle's 50% at 29,285.50.
At 10:05 it trades above the draw. By 1:49 PM it reaches 29,898.75, and the candle closes near its high at 29,834.75: open, low, high, close.

Example 2: a bearish day, NQ, August 18, 2026

NQ 15-minute chart, August 18, 2026: the 2 AM candle's low at 29,687.25 as the draw, its 50% near 29,792, and the 6 AM candle's high at 29,786.00 at 08:05 — NQ 15M, Aug 18, 2026. The 6 AM candle: open, then high.

On August 17, 2026, price trades above the August 14 high of 30,283.00, up to 30,343.00, then closes at 30,078.25, back below it. Failure: the daily read for the 18th is bearish.
That draw, the August 17 low at 30,054.50, is taken at 9:42 PM that evening. Again, the four-hour candles carry the rest of the day.
Take the 6 AM candle. The 2 AM candle closed at 29,733.00, below the 10 PM low of 29,835.25. Displacement: the draw is the 2 AM low, 29,687.25.
The candle opens and drifts higher first. Its high, 29,786.00, comes at 8:05, still below the 2 AM candle's 50% near 29,792: open, then high.

NQ 5-minute chart, August 18, 2026: the 07:45 swing high at 29,775.75 taken, the 08:05 candle closing below the 29,748.50 open of the up candle (a change in state of delivery), the 08:10 trade below 29,742.50, the 2 AM low taken at 08:37 and the 29,604.75 low at 09:55 — NQ 5M, Aug 18, 2026. The raid, the CISD, the shift.

On the five-minute chart, the push up takes out a five-minute swing high at 29,775.75. Then the 8:05 candle closes at 29,746.00, below the 29,748.50 open of the up candle that ran the swing high: a change in state of delivery.
At 8:10 price trades below 29,742.50, the low that started that push: the shift. At 8:37 it takes the 2 AM low, and at 9:55 it reaches 29,604.75.

NQ 4-hour chart, August 17 to 18, 2026: the 10 AM read reaches its draw at 29,604.75; the 2 PM read's draw at 29,514.00 is not reached and the session closes at 29,559.50 — NQ 4H, Aug 18, 2026. The last read of the day is not reached.

The 10 AM read reaches its draw too. The last one, the 2 PM read, does not: the session closes at 29,559.50, above that draw at 29,514.00.

How often is intraday bias right?

We checked 2,248 four-hour reads on NQ futures, from June 2024 to September 2026: on about two in three, the next candle traded through the side the read pointed to; on about one in six, it took only the other side.

Time of day mattered. The 2 AM, 6 AM and 10 AM candles reached their side about three times in four; the evening and afternoon candles, a little over half.
Agreeing with the daily read made no difference: about two in three either way. The four-hour read tells you the next four hours, not the day.
The draw is only the last candle's high or low. It can be reached by a few points, then reverse. A read is a map, not a trade.

How do you use intraday bias in your own charting?

Let the daily bias frame the day, let the four-hour read frame the next four hours, and let the five-minute chart show you when the candle's high or low is in.

Read on the close. A four-hour read only exists once the candle has closed.
Weight the 2 AM, 6 AM and 10 AM candles. They hold London, New York and the late morning.
Expect the first move against the read. Judge it by where it stops: before the last candle's 50%.
A read is not a trade. Some candles reach the draw by a few points and turn; some reads fail.

More concepts in the series are on the ICT Concepts Decoded hub. If you trade futures with a prop firm, you can look up a firm's rules on the challenges page or set two firms side by side on the compare page.

Frequently asked questions

Is intraday bias different from daily bias?

The read is the same; the candle is smaller. Daily bias uses yesterday's candle for the day's draw, intraday bias uses the last four-hour candle for the next four hours.

Can you use the 1-hour chart for intraday bias?

You can run the same read on the hourly chart, but lower timeframes give more reads and more noise, so the four-hour chart is the frame used here.

What if the four-hour read disagrees with the daily bias?

It can be the first move against the daily bias. The daily bias stands until its own warning signs show up.

What is a 4-hour candle bias?

It is another name for the intraday read here: the last four-hour candle's close, against the candle before it, points to the high or the low the next candle is more likely to reach.

Is intraday directional bias a trade signal?

No. It is a map for the next four hours, not an entry. This page does not give trade signals.

Sources

Concept: daily and intraday bias, the draw on liquidity and the shape of the candle as taught by ICT (The Inner Circle Trader, Michael J. Huddleston), who originated these ideas. The explanation, examples and charts on this page are our own.
Data: every chart and the 2,248-read count are real historical CME Nasdaq-100 E-mini (NQ) futures data, shown in New York time.
Video: Daily Bias Isn't Enough: How to Find ICT Intraday Bias on the 4-Hour Chart, FundedEnigma.

Last verified: 2026-10-31. Written by Steve H.

Disclaimer: This page is for education only and is not financial advice. Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss. Past price behaviour does not guarantee future results.

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