What is intraday
Intraday means "within one trading day": something that starts and ends inside the same trading session, without being carried into the next one.
Intraday trading is opening and closing a position on the same trading day, so no position is held overnight. Traders also call this day trading.
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Worked example (hypothetical)
A trader opens a buy position on EUR/USD (the euro priced in US dollars) during the London session. A few hours later, still in the same session, the trader closes it. Because the position opened and closed inside one trading day, it is an intraday trade.
- The result depends only on the price change between the open and the close, the position size, the spread and any commission.
- No overnight swap applies, because the position was not open at the daily rollover. See Swap fees for how that charge works.
- To work out what a given price move means in money for a given position size, use the tools on the Calculators page.
If the trader had kept the same position past the rollover, it would no longer be intraday. It would become an overnight position, with swap and the risk of a price gap at the next open.
Where you see the term
On platforms. MetaTrader and other terminals offer intraday timeframes: minute and hourly charts that show price movement inside a day. A daily candle sums up the whole intraday range in one bar. See Candlestick Patterns and Technical analysis.
In orders. A day order is valid only for the current session and is cancelled if it has not been filled by the end of it.
In reports. On an account statement, an intraday trade shows an open time and a close time on the same trading date, and no swap entry.
In news. "The index hit an intraday high" means the highest price reached during the session, even if it closed lower. An "intraday reversal" is a sharp change of direction within one session.
Precise definition and edge cases
Formally, "intraday" is measured against the trading day of the market or the trading account, not the calendar day.
- Forex and CFDs: the trading day ends at the broker's daily rollover time, which is set by server time. A trade opened late in the evening in Pakistan and closed after the rollover is not intraday, even if both times fall on the same local date.
- Exchange markets: the day runs from the opening auction to the closing auction. See Opening and closing auctions. A trading halt pauses the session but does not start a new day.
- Futures: many sessions cross midnight, so one trading day can span two calendar dates.
- Crypto: markets trade every day without a close, so "intraday" usually refers to a fixed daily cut-off chosen by the venue or data provider.
- Intraday margin: some providers apply different margin rules during the session than for positions held overnight.
Related measures include the average daily range, which shows how far a market typically moves within a day.
Risk
Intraday trading avoids overnight swap and weekend gaps, but it does not remove risk. With leveraged CFD and forex trading, a fast intraday move can wipe out a large part of an account within minutes, and news or a flash crash can cause slippage past a stop. See Risk management and Trading psychology.
Related terms
Frequent questions
What is the intraday trading meaning in simple words?
You open and close a trade on the same trading day, so nothing stays open overnight.
Is intraday the same as day trading?
Yes. Both terms describe positions opened and closed within one session.
Does an intraday trade pay swap?
Usually not, because swap is charged at the daily rollover. A position that stays open past the rollover can be charged swap.
Is intraday trading safer than holding overnight?
Not necessarily. It avoids overnight gaps, but leverage and fast intraday moves can still cause quick losses.