NQ Session Recap — Thursday, May 21, 2026

NQ gapped down 179.00 points at the open on Thursday, May 21, 2026 and settled at 29,446.25, +50.00 points (+0.17%) versus the prior regular-session close. The regular session traded a 427.00-point range between 29,127.00 and 29,554.00, closing in the upper part of the range.

Overnight trade ahead of the open ranged from 29,113.00 to 29,464.50. The day session took out the overnight high, which is worth logging if you track overnight-range behavior as part of your prep.

Price built a 213.00-point initial balance (09:30–10:30 ET, 29,127.00–29,340.00) and broke above it, extending about 100% of the IB range above the IB high at the furthest point.

Session volume totaled roughly 603,451 contracts across the trading day, with about 450,761 traded during regular hours.

One session is a data point, not a pattern. The way to use a day like this is to compare it against the distribution: how often NQ breaks its initial balance in this direction, what range expansion typically follows, and how similar sessions resolved. Profitabul's paid report engine computes exactly those statistics over historical sessions.