NQ, ES, QQQ and SPY Market Sentiment: How to Read It Each Session

People search for the current market sentiment in NQ, ES, QQQ and SPY because they want to know which side is in control before they trade. Sentiment changes through the session, so the most useful approach is a short set of checks you can run yourself every morning. This page lists them and shows how the daily levels give each one a price to measure against.

The four instruments move together

ES and SPY both track the S&P 500. NQ and QQQ both track the Nasdaq 100. ES and NQ are futures and trade nearly around the clock, so they show the overnight mood first. SPY and QQQ are ETFs and trade in the stock session. To move a level between them, see ES to SPY conversion; to choose which one to trade, see SPY vs ES vs NQ.

Six checks to read sentiment before the open

1. Overnight direction. Compare ES and NQ now with yesterday's close. A move of a few tenths of a percent is normal noise. A gap of 1% or more tells you a lot of overnight orders went one way.
2. Price against the pivot. Each daily plan names the nearest pivot. Price holding above it after the open shows buyers defending it. Price holding below it shows sellers in control. Price crossing it back and forth shows indecision.
3. NQ against ES. When NQ (and QQQ) leads ES (and SPY) higher, buyers are reaching for growth and tech stocks. When NQ falls faster, sellers are hitting the same stocks first.
4. The VIX. A rising VIX with falling index futures shows traders paying up for protection. A falling VIX with rising futures shows calm.
5. Breadth. The NYSE TICK and the advance-decline line show whether the move includes most stocks or a few large ones. An index rising while most stocks fall is a fragile move.
6. The calendar. CPI, payrolls, Fed days and large earnings reports can reverse the morning's mood in minutes. Check the economic calendar before reading too much into the overnight move.

How the daily levels turn sentiment into prices

Words like bullish and bearish are hard to trade. Levels give them a location. Every plan lists the support, resistance and pivot levels for the next session, plus how many times each level was touched and how much volume traded there. The busiest levels are the ones where buyers and sellers have already fought hardest.

• Above the pivot and holding: the next resistance level is the first target buyers have to clear.
• Below the pivot and holding: the next support level is where sellers are tested.
• Through every level in the plan: a strong one-way day, the kind the recaps describe as running through every resistance or support.

Current levels for each instrument are on SPY levels, ES levels, QQQ levels and NQ levels. Each daily report also recaps how yesterday's levels actually traded, which is the clearest record of how sentiment played out.

A morning routine in five minutes

1. Note where ES and NQ are against yesterday's close.
2. Open the day's plan and mark the pivot, the nearest support and the nearest resistance.
3. Check the economic calendar for scheduled releases.
4. After the open, watch which side of the pivot price holds for the first 15 to 30 minutes.
5. Write down your plan for both cases before the first trade. The premarket checklist has a full version.

Beyond the US

The same checks work for every index. Little Bird Trading publishes plans for 20 markets, 23 symbols in all, from the Nikkei 225 and KOSPI 200 to the DAX 40 and FTSE 100, each posted after its own close. The Trade Plans page lists them all.

FAQ

Where can I see today's sentiment for ES and NQ?

Start with where futures trade against yesterday's close and against the day's pivot. The current levels are on the ES and NQ level pages.

Do SPY and ES always agree?

Almost always in direction, since both follow the S&P 500. They differ in hours, size and small pricing gaps from dividends and interest.

Is this financial advice?

No. This page is education about reading the market. You make and own your trades.