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ICT NDOG and NWOG: New Day and New Week Opening Gaps

The New Day Opening Gap (NDOG) and New Week Opening Gap (NWOG) are among the most consistently targeted price levels in ICT Trading. When the Forex or futures market re-opens after the daily or weekly close, any gap between the previous close and the new open represents an unfilled price range that institutions are highly likely to target before the session’s primary move unfolds.

The Inner Circle Traders

Updated July 2026

9 min read

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Key Takeaways

The NDOG (New Day Opening Gap) is the price gap between the 5 PM EST close (Forex daily close) and the next session open — it forms most commonly on currency pairs and Gold at the start of each day
The NWOG (New Week Opening Gap) is the price gap between the Friday 5 PM EST close and the Sunday 5 PM EST open — it is among the most consistently targeted ICT levels of the week
Opening gaps represent unfilled price ranges — the market skipped those price levels entirely — and institutions target them to provide the two-sided participation that was missed
The NWOG midpoint is a critical reference level: price almost always visits the NWOG midpoint before the week's primary directional move begins
NDOG and NWOG are not traded in the same way as FVGs or Order Blocks — they are primarily used as draw on liquidity targets and as context for understanding where the week's or day's first move will go

What Are NDOG and NWOG?

The New Day Opening Gap (NDOG) is the price gap that forms between the close of one Forex or futures trading session and the open of the next. On Forex pairs, the daily session closes at 5 PM EST and reopens at 6 PM EST (or Sunday evening for the weekly gap). Any difference in price between the close and the re-open is the NDOG.

The New Week Opening Gap (NWOG) is the larger and more significant version: the gap between the Friday 5 PM EST close and the Sunday 5 PM EST (or Sunday evening) open. Because the Forex market is closed over the weekend, the NWOG reflects the full accumulated imbalance of weekend news, global positioning changes, and institutional order preparation that occurs while the market is closed.

Why gaps fill

Opening gaps represent price ranges where zero market participants transacted. Buyers and sellers who wanted to trade at those prices had no opportunity — the market simply was not open. When the market reopens, institutions target these unfilled ranges to provide the two-sided participation that was missed. This is the mechanical reason gaps fill, and it is as reliable in Forex as it is in equities.

The New Week Opening Gap (NWOG)

The NWOG is among the most consistently hit ICT reference levels of the trading week. The gap between Friday’s close and Sunday’s open represents the market’s assessment of the weekend’s news flow — economic data, geopolitical events, or central bank announcements that occurred while Forex was closed. Institutions use the Sunday open gap to position for the week’s expected direction.

The NWOG has three key levels: the gap high (the Sunday open price, if higher than Friday’s close), the gap low (Friday’s close price), and the NWOG midpoint (the 50% level between high and low). ICT Trading establishes that price almost always returns to visit the NWOG midpoint before the week’s primary directional move is established.

The NWOG itself is drawn as a rectangle spanning from the Friday close to the Sunday open. Mark it at the beginning of each trading week. Then watch price — in most cases, Monday or Tuesday sees a move that fills part or all of the NWOG, the midpoint is touched, and the week’s bias then drives the primary move away from the NWOG in the direction of the HTF trend.

The New Day Opening Gap (NDOG) and the Midnight Open

The NDOG is the daily equivalent of the NWOG. On most Forex pairs, the gap between the 5 PM EST close and the 6 PM EST (or Sunday open) creates a smaller daily gap. Because this gap forms every day, it is a consistent daily reference level — particularly useful for identifying the first target of the Asian session or the pre-London drift.

The Midnight Open (the price at exactly midnight EST) is closely related to the NDOG framework. It represents the open price of the new trading day in the ICT convention and serves as a daily pivot reference. Price that opens above the Midnight Open tends to be bullish for the session; price below tends to be bearish.

The NDOG and Midnight Open often work together: price fills the NDOG early in the Asia-to-London transition, touches the Midnight Open level, and then the London session establishes the actual directional bias for the day. Understanding this sequence prevents the common mistake of trading the NDOG fill as the day’s primary move — it is typically just the early-session reference fill before the real move begins at the London kill zone.

The NWOG Midpoint: The Week's Primary Reference Level

Within the NWOG framework, the midpoint is the most important single level. It is the 50% mark between the Friday close and Sunday open — and price visits it with remarkable consistency before the week’s primary directional move establishes itself.

The NWOG midpoint functions as a weekly equilibrium level. In a bullish weekly bias, price will often dip toward the NWOG midpoint on Monday or Tuesday before reversing higher. In a bearish weekly bias, price will rally toward the NWOG midpoint before reversing lower. The midpoint touch is the manipulation phase at the weekly scale — the equivalent of the Judas Swing targeting the NWOG midpoint rather than an arbitrary level.

Once the NWOG midpoint is touched and price reverses, the primary weekly direction is usually established. Mark the NWOG midpoint every Sunday before the week opens and track whether price has touched it — once it has, the week’s directional bias has higher probability confirmation.

How to Use NDOG and NWOG in ICT Trading

NDOG and NWOG are primarily used as draw on liquidity targets and contextual reference levels, not as direct entry zones in the way FVGs or Order Blocks are used. The workflow is:

Weekly prep (Sunday evening): Mark the NWOG — the gap between Friday’s 5 PM close and the Sunday open. Mark the NWOG high, NWOG low, and NWOG midpoint. These are the week’s primary early reference levels.

Daily prep (before London open): Mark the NDOG for the current day. Note the Midnight Open price. Check whether the NWOG midpoint has been touched yet this week.

During London/NY: If the NWOG midpoint has not yet been touched, treat it as the first DOL target for the early session. Once it is touched and a CHoCH or reaction occurs, the subsequent move represents the week’s primary direction — and the PD arrays in the correct dealing range zone become the entry opportunities for that primary move.

Combine NDOG and NWOG analysis with PDH, PDL, PWH, PWL analysis and the draw on liquidity framework for a complete pre-session preparation system that gives you context before any setup forms.

NWOG and NDOG Priority Hierarchy

When both an NWOG and NDOG are present at the start of a trading day, the NWOG carries more institutional weight. The weekly reference captures five days of accumulated institutional positioning versus the NDOG’s single overnight session. In practice, when both gaps sit at similar price levels, the NWOG fills take precedence — the algorithm is more likely to address the weekly gap first before the daily one.

When they conflict — a bullish NDOG exists (overnight opened above prior close) but a bearish NWOG exists (week opened below prior Friday close) — the NWOG context takes priority for the weekly directional bias. The NDOG fill trade is still valid intraday, but the overall weekly delivery direction should be assessed through the NWOG lens. Trading a bullish NDOG fill in a bearish NWOG week requires extra confirmation before entry.

The Monday NWOG Trade: First Fill of the Week

Monday provides a specific NWOG opportunity: the gap between Friday’s close and Sunday evening’s open often produces the week’s first major directional move as the algorithm fills the NWOG during Monday’s session. In bearish NWOG weeks (Sunday opened below Friday close), Monday’s London open often pushes further in the bearish direction before reversing to fill the NWOG during the New York session — a classic Monday AMD setup.

For traders who struggle with daily analysis complexity early in the week, the Monday NWOG fill trade is a structured, mechanical opportunity: identify the gap, identify the weekly bias (does the NWOG opening suggest bullish or bearish delivery?), wait for Monday’s manipulation (the London Judas Swing), and enter the NWOG fill trade during the New York open kill zone. This one-setup-per-week approach captures one of the most structurally reliable weekly patterns while avoiding the noise of mid-week sessions.

Watch: ICT NDOG and NWOG: New Day and New Week Opening Gaps

Original ICT teaching on this concept from the Inner Circle Trader YouTube channel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the NWOG appear on all Forex pairs?+

Yes — any Forex pair that closes at 5 PM EST Friday and reopens Sunday evening will have a NWOG when a gap exists. EURUSD, GBPUSD, XAUUSD, and NQ futures all exhibit NWOG behaviour. The size of the gap varies with the news flow over the weekend — high-impact weekend events (G20 meetings, emergency central bank decisions) produce larger gaps than quiet weekends.

What happens if there is no gap — the Sunday open equals Friday's close?+

If there is no gap (or only a 1–2 pip gap), the NWOG is essentially zero and plays no significant role that week. In this case, the PDH/PDL and PWH/PWL reference levels take primary importance as the week's reference framework, and the ICT trader looks for the week's first liquidity sweep from those levels instead.

How large does a NWOG need to be to be significant?+

As a general guideline, a NWOG of 5 pips or more on major Forex pairs (EURUSD, GBPUSD) is considered significant. On Gold (XAUUSD), a gap of $1 or more is notable. Very large gaps (20+ pips on Forex) typically indicate a high-impact weekend event and tend to fill quickly in the first hour of the Sunday opening.

Can I enter a trade directly on a NWOG fill?+

Some ICT traders use NWOG fills as direct trade setups — entering as price fills the gap and targeting the next PD array or liquidity level beyond the NWOG boundary. However, the more reliable approach is to use the NWOG fill as context — confirming that price is engaged with the weekly reference structure — and then waiting for a standard ICT entry (OB or FVG) that appears after the gap fill.

How does the NWOG relate to the ICT New Day Opening Gap concept?+

They are the same concept at different scales. NWOG = weekly gap (Friday close to Sunday open). NDOG = daily gap (5 PM close to 6 PM open or next session open). Both represent unfilled price ranges that institutions target. The NWOG is more significant because it represents a full weekend of order accumulation; the NDOG fills more quickly and reliably because daily gaps are smaller and easier to close within the first hours of the new session.

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The Inner Circle Traders

Educational Content Team

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.

ICT NDOG ICT NWOG ICT New Week Opening Gap ICT New Day Opening Gap ICT Opening Gap ICT Weekly Reference Levels

← Valid vs Invalid FVG Next: ICT Volume Imbalance →

ICT NDOG and NWOG: New Day and New Week Opening Gaps

What Are NDOG and NWOG?

The New Week Opening Gap (NWOG)

The New Day Opening Gap (NDOG) and the Midnight Open

The NWOG Midpoint: The Week's Primary Reference Level

How to Use NDOG and NWOG in ICT Trading

NWOG and NDOG Priority Hierarchy

The Monday NWOG Trade: First Fill of the Week

Watch: ICT NDOG and NWOG: New Day and New Week Opening Gaps

Frequently Asked Questions

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