By Harvest Wright, updated 31 October 2026
ICT macros are short windows of time, set in New York time, when ICT teaches that price is most likely to make a deliberate move: run a high or low, fill a gap, or start the next leg. This guide uses six of them, all in New York trading hours. The morning three run 8:50 to 9:10, 9:50 to 10:10 and 10:50 to 11:10 AM. The afternoon three run 1:10 to 1:30, 2:10 to 2:30 and 3:15 to 3:45 PM. The table below shows each one where you are.
ICT macro times in your time zone
| New York | Your time | London | India (IST) | Bangkok |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:50 AMto 9:10 AM | ||||
| 9:50 AMto 10:10 AM | ||||
| 10:50 AMto 11:10 AM | ||||
| 1:10 PMto 1:30 PM | ||||
| 2:10 PMto 2:30 PM | ||||
| 3:15 PMto 3:45 PM |
Each macro is fixed in New York time. The other columns are worked out for that New York date, so they shift by an hour when the US or the UK changes its clocks. India and Thailand keep the same time all year. For the sessions and killzones, see the forex session times clock.
What are ICT macros?
Michael J. Huddleston, the trader behind ICT, teaches that price is delivered by an algorithm that runs to a schedule. A macro is one slot on that schedule: a short window when it looks for liquidity to take, or for an imbalance such as a fair value gap to fill. You do not have to accept the algorithm idea to use them. The windows give you a simple routine, because you know in advance when to be watching.
A macro tells you when to look. Your bias and the liquidity on the chart tell you which way. That is why macros work best as the last filter on a setup you already like.
Lists of macros differ a little from one source to the next, and ICT also marks windows in the London session. This guide sticks to the six New York windows.
The six macros, one by one
All times are New York time. The morning three fall in the London and New York overlap, usually the busiest part of the day for the major forex pairs.
- 8:50 to 9:10 AM. Inside the New York killzone. It starts 20 minutes after 8:30 AM, when most of the big US data comes out, so check the calendar first.
- 9:50 to 10:10 AM. It spans the end of the New York killzone and the start of the London close killzone. US data due at 10:00 AM lands in the middle of it.
- 10:50 to 11:10 AM. Inside the London close killzone and the 10 to 11 AM silver bullet hour.
- 1:10 to 1:30 PM. The first window after the New York lunch hour.
- 2:10 to 2:30 PM. Inside the 2 to 3 PM silver bullet hour. On Fed decision days the statement comes out at 2:00 PM, just before it.
- 3:15 to 3:45 PM. The longest window, 30 minutes, in the last hour before the US stock market closes at 4:00 PM.
Why macro times move in London, India and Bangkok
Macros follow New York's clock, daylight saving included. So in New York they never move, and everywhere else they can.
India and Thailand never change their clocks. Every macro is an hour later there from early November to mid-March, while New York is on winter time.
The UK changes its clocks too, but on different dates from the US. For most of the year London is five hours ahead of New York. For two or three weeks in March, and for one week around the start of November, the gap is four hours, and every macro comes an hour earlier in London.
The live table works this out from the date, so it stays right through every change. The page on forex session times in India explains the same shifts for the sessions.
ICT macros vs killzones
Killzones are the two to four hour stretches when a session does most of its work: the London open killzone from 2 to 5 AM New York time, the New York killzone from 7 to 10 AM, and the London close from 10 AM to noon. Macros are much shorter, 20 or 30 minutes, and the morning ones sit inside those killzones.
Use them in that order. The killzone picks the part of the day, and the macro narrows it to a few minutes. Killzones move with daylight saving in the same way, and the forex session times clock shows them in your time zone.
How to use a macro in a trade
- Set the bias first. Work top down from the higher timeframes, so you know which side you favour before the window opens. Here is how to find the daily bias.
- Mark the liquidity before the window. The overnight and morning highs and lows, equal highs and lows, and any open gaps. These are the levels price is likely to reach for.
- Watch the window, then drop a timeframe. Look for a liquidity sweep of a level you marked, followed by displacement the other way. Then go down to the 1 or 5 minute chart for a candle or a small order block that confirms the move in your direction.
- Put the stop where the idea is wrong. Beyond the extreme of the sweep. A new low past it, in a long, means the setup has failed.
- Target the nearest obvious liquidity. The high or low on the other side of the morning range is a sensible first target. Price does not have to reach it inside the window.
- No sweep, no trade. If the window passes quietly, wait for the next one or call it a day.
How I use time on my own charts
I trade live on weekdays, usually starting between 11 AM and 1 PM Bangkok time, which is earlier in the day than any of these six windows. Time still drives how I read the chart.
I keep a session indicator on with the Asia, London and New York ranges, and I keep asking what each one did. What did Asia do, what did New York do, and what is price doing now? Which highs and lows have been taken, and where did London open?
On my own session the window I watch is the 3 AM New York hour. As I said on the stream, you tend to get a reversal from 3 to 4 AM, sometimes running to 4:30. It is the same idea as a macro: a time when a move is more likely, which still needs the chart to agree.
If you want to watch this in real time, the live schedule shows the stream start in your time zone.
Common mistakes with ICT macros
- Treating a macro as a reversal signal. It marks a time. The move inside it can just as easily continue the trend.
- Trading every window. Six a day is plenty of chances to overtrade. Pick one or two that suit your day and learn how they behave on your market.
- Getting the time wrong. Macros are set in New York time, and the gap to London changes for a few weeks each spring and autumn. Use the table at the top of this page instead of doing the maths.
- Ignoring the calendar. US data at 8:30 and 10:00 AM, and Fed decisions at 2:00 PM, can swamp anything a macro would do.
- Skipping the bias. A clean sweep in the window means little if it points against the daily chart.