LiquidityICT Trading EducationArticle 49 of 100
ICT PDH, PDL, PWH, PWL: How to Use Previous Session Reference Levels
Previous Day High, Previous Day Low, Previous Week High, and Previous Week Low are not just reference levels — they are liquidity pools. Traders who entered on the previous day’s open set their stops at the previous day’s extremes. When price sweeps those extremes, those stops are cleared and the institutional position is filled. These levels are among the most consistently hit ICT draw on liquidity targets.
The Inner Circle Traders
Updated July 2026
9 min read
Cluster: Liquidity
Key Takeaways
- PDH (Previous Day High), PDL (Previous Day Low), PWH (Previous Week High), and PWL (Previous Week Low) are horizontal reference levels that define where stop clusters sit from the prior session
- The PDH is a BSL pool — traders who went short at or near the previous day high have stops above it. Institutions sweep this to fill long positions before reversing lower
- The PDL is an SSL pool — traders who went long at or near the previous day low have stops below it. Institutions sweep this to fill short positions before reversing higher
- In a bullish daily bias, the PDL is the most likely first target for a Judas Swing stop hunt — clearing the stops before the bullish delivery to the PDH or PWH above
- These levels are drawn fresh every day (PDH/PDL) and every week (PWH/PWL) and should be marked before each session opens
What Are PDH, PDL, PWH, and PWL?
PDH, PDL, PWH, and PWL are four horizontal reference levels that every ICT Trader marks before each trading session:
PDH (Previous Day High) — the highest candle high of the previous trading day. A Buy-Side Liquidity (BSL) pool rests just above it: the stops of traders who went short at or near the high, and the buy stops of breakout traders who entered above it.
PDL (Previous Day Low) — the lowest candle low of the previous trading day. A Sell-Side Liquidity (SSL) pool rests just below it: the stops of traders who went long at or near the low, and the sell stops of breakdown traders who entered below it.
PWH (Previous Week High) — the highest high of the previous trading week. A larger, more significant BSL pool than the PDH — accumulated over five sessions rather than one.
PWL (Previous Week Low) — the lowest low of the previous trading week. The SSL equivalent of the PWH, representing a full week of accumulated sell stops.
Why these levels matter
Every trader who held a position through the previous session and placed their stop at the previous day’s extreme is now providing liquidity at that level. The more obvious the level, the more stops cluster there — and the higher the institutional interest in sweeping it.
The Four Levels as Liquidity Maps
The four reference levels create a nested liquidity map for the current session. At the start of each trading day, you mark all four levels — the daily pair (PDH and PDL) and the weekly pair (PWH and PWL). These immediately tell you where the four most significant liquidity pools sit.
In a bullish daily bias, price is expected to target the PDH or PWH above — sweeping the BSL at one or both levels before reversing or continuing higher. The PDL is the expected Judas Swing target for the first move of the session — the stop hunt that clears the SSL before the bullish delivery begins.
In a bearish daily bias, price is expected to target the PDL or PWL below — sweeping the SSL before delivering lower. The PDH is the expected Judas Swing target — the false bullish move at the London open that sweeps the BSL before the bearish delivery to the PDL or PWL.
Bullish Day: PDL Sweep → Delivery to PDH
On a bullish trading day, the textbook ICT session sequence using PDH/PDL levels works as follows:
The Asian session creates a range slightly above the PDL. At the London open, price drops below the PDL — sweeping the SSL pool below it. Retail traders who went long at the PDL are stopped out. Institutions fill long positions against those triggered stops.
A CHoCH forms — price closes back above the PDL. This is the Judas Swing confirmation. ICT Traders who prepared for this scenario now look for the first bullish PD array in the discount zone for an entry long, targeting the PDH above.
The delivery runs from the swept PDL to the PDH — often completing within the New York session. In strong trend days, price continues above the PDH to target the PWH. The PDH becomes a temporary pause level, not a reversal, until price sweeps the BSL there and a bearish CHoCH forms.
PWH and PWL: The Higher-Stakes Weekly Targets
PWH and PWL operate identically to PDH and PDL but on a weekly scale. They represent more significant liquidity pools — five trading days of accumulated stops rather than one — and their sweeps tend to produce larger, more sustained moves.
The PWH is typically reached mid-week (Tuesday through Thursday) on weeks where the HTF bias is bullish. Price makes a series of daily highs that step progressively toward the PWH before finally sweeping it, often during the New York session on Tuesday or Wednesday.
After the PWH is swept in a bearish weekly context, the PWL below becomes the weekly DOL target. The week plays out as: Monday open → brief rally toward PWH → Tuesday/Wednesday PWH sweep → Thursday/Friday delivery to PWL. This is the weekly AMD cycle — the Power of 3 expressed at the weekly timeframe.
Mark PWH and PWL every Sunday before the week opens. They are among the most consistently hit levels in the ICT framework because they represent the maximum accumulated stop liquidity available to institutional participants at the weekly scale.
How to Mark and Use These Levels Daily
The practical workflow is straightforward and should become a pre-session routine:
Daily (before London open): On the daily chart, identify yesterday’s highest candle high (PDH) and lowest candle low (PDL). Draw horizontal lines at both. On the weekly chart, identify the current week’s highest high so far (to track the evolving PWH) and the previous week’s high and low if the current week has not yet exceeded them.
At session open: Check where price currently sits relative to the four levels. Is price above or below the PDL? Is the PDH within reach during the session? Has the PWH been swept this week? These answers give you the immediate bias context for the current session’s setups.
During the session: When price approaches a PDH, PDL, PWH, or PWL, treat it as a potential stop hunt target — not a resistance or support level. Wait for the sweep and CHoCH before entering in the opposite direction, or wait for the BOS if the daily bias supports continuation through the level.
These four levels, combined with the draw on liquidity identification and daily bias, give an ICT Trader a complete session-level picture before price moves a single tick.
Combining PDH, PDL, PWH, PWL in Daily Analysis
In pre-session analysis, all four levels should be marked on the chart simultaneously. Together they create a four-level reference framework that tells you the potential range for the session and which targets are most likely to be hit. On a bullish day, the sequence typically is: PDL sweep (the Judas Swing takes the prior day low to collect SSL), then delivery toward PDH (the intraday target), potentially continuing toward PWH (the higher-stakes weekly target) if the bullish momentum is sufficient.
The PDH and PDL are the primary same-session reference levels — the targets and manipulation levels for the current day. The PWH and PWL are the secondary levels that frame the weekly context. When the PDH is near the PWH (the prior day high and prior week high are close together), the BSL concentration at that level is doubled — two timeframes of stops are stacked at the same price. This double-stacked BSL target is one of the highest-conviction weekly targets in the ICT framework.
The practical morning routine: mark PWH and PWL first (these change only weekly — mark them once on Sunday and leave them for the entire week). Then mark PDH and PDL each morning before the London open. Note where PDH/PDL sit relative to PWH/PWL — are they close together (high-confluence target) or far apart (multiple distinct targets)? This spatial relationship tells you the likely target structure for the session before a single candle of the day has printed.
Using PDH/PDL Against the Daily Bias
On a bullish day, the PDL plays a specific role in the Judas Swing model: it is the expected manipulation level. The London open or early New York session will often push briefly below the PDL (sweeping the SSL below the prior day low), collecting the stop losses of retail longs who placed stops below “support.” After the PDL sweep, the bullish delivery begins targeting the PDH above.
The PDL sweep entry is one of the cleanest daily setups in the ICT framework: wait for the London open to push below the PDL, confirm the sweep (candle closes back above the PDL within 1-3 candles), enter long from the FVG on the reversal candle, target the PDH. This is a same-day, PDL-sweep-to-PDH-delivery trade that respects the daily bias while using the specific session reference levels to define both the entry (PDL sweep zone) and the target (PDH).
On a bearish day, the logic reverses: the PDH is the expected Judas Swing level. The London session pushes briefly above the PDH (sweeping BSL), then reverses sharply. The entry is from the FVG after the PDH sweep, targeting the PDL below. This bearish PDH sweep to PDL delivery is the mirror image of the bullish PDL sweep to PDH delivery — and together they represent the two most common daily delivery patterns in the ICT framework.
Watch: ICT PDH, PDL, PWH, PWL: How to Use Previous Session Reference Levels
Original ICT teaching on this concept from the Inner Circle Trader YouTube channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find PDH and PDL on my chart?+
On a daily candlestick chart, the previous day's candle gives you both levels directly — the top of the wick is the PDH, the bottom of the wick is the PDL. If you trade Forex, use the 5 PM EST candle close as the day boundary (the standard ICT daily close). On MT4/MT5 and most charting platforms, you can set horizontal lines at these levels each morning in under a minute.
What happens if price opens above the PDH?+
If price gaps above the PDH at the session open, the PDH becomes a support level (former BSL that has been cleared). The new reference levels are the current day's unfolding high and the gap itself. In this case, the PDH-as-BSL play has already occurred, and the next targets are the PWH (if not yet swept) or the previous day's midpoint as an IRL zone.
Should I use PDH/PDL on Forex or futures?+
Both. PDH/PDL are applicable to any instrument where a previous session's high and low can be identified. For Forex, the standard session boundary is 5 PM EST (New York close). For futures (NQ, ES), the boundary is the Globex session vs RTH session — most ICT practitioners use the previous day's Regular Trading Hours (RTH) high and low.
Can PDH and PWH be at the same level?+
Yes — when price hasn't moved much over the week, the PDH and PWH may coincide. This creates a higher-significance BSL pool because it stacks two separate pools at the same level. A sweep of a level that is simultaneously a PDH and PWH tends to produce a stronger reversal move.
How do monthly reference levels (PMH/PML) work?+
Previous Month High (PMH) and Previous Month Low (PML) function identically but at the monthly scale. They are the largest, most significant ICT reference level targets — representing an entire month of accumulated stop liquidity. They are most relevant for swing trades targeting multi-day or multi-week moves, and for identifying the DOL on weekly charts.
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The Inner Circle Traders
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This article is part of the free ICT Trading education programme — 118 articles written from scratch covering the complete Inner Circle Trader methodology. All content is for educational purposes only. This site is independent and is not affiliated with Michael Huddleston or the Inner Circle Trader.
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