FTSE100 - Trading the Asian Range at London Open

I'm pursuing consistency, as I've been experiencing a high level of frustration due to the number of avoidable mistakes I've made on my trading journey — the most significant being a failure to wait for confirmation before entering trades.

Alongside technical analysis, I’ll also be incorporating fundamental analysis to help form an overall sentiment for each trading session.

I won’t be using any indicators — my focus will be based on key levels and market structure.

If there are consistently profitable traders out there, particularly those who trade the FTSE 100, I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to improve.

I'm currently trading a $50k FTMO Demo account as I'm preparing for my next evaluation.

Day 1 - 16/04/2025

Overall sentiment and plan for London open: "Overall Neutral. I plan to sell the high of the day expecting a move back to test support."

My logic was as I was not expecting a sustained rally in either direction I will sell a push into the Asian high as I generally gravitate towards shorting. After a push into the high of the day I would wait for a 30 minute close back inside the Asian range.

At 8:30 AM, a 30-minute candle closed with a strong rejection at the Asian range high/high of the day, which confirmed my trade idea and triggered an entry.

I targeted the low of the Asian range risking 2%




Take profit hit at 9:08AM

Attached Image (click to enlarge)

Rolling P/L (of initial deposit) - Demo (+2%) Live/funded (0%)

Day 2 - 17/04/2025

Overall sentiment and plan for London open: "Overall bearish sentiment — sell rally into high of day after a 30-minute confirmation."

I had a bearish sentiment for the trading session, and when first looking at the market in the morning, I saw there was a 15-minute bearish close at the high of the Asian range. However, when assessing the market structure on the lower time frames, I decided to wait for a push up and then for the market to set back up to fall.




The market began pushing down, and emotions started to kick in as I felt like I was missing out. However, I reminded myself there's no need to rush — it could very well be a false move. I was waiting for a move back to my intraday S/R level, highlighted in purple.




The price reversed to my intraday s/r level and I entered (-2%) with my stop at the high of the week which was the high of yesterday NY session. I was confident in my sentiment analysis, intraday s/r level and stoploss placement but I could have waited for a bearish 15 minute at the high of the day to avoid taking extra heat.




Price hit the high of the day, I was to exit on a 15 minute close above.





Price began to sell off, but it could have just been an insignificant push lower — a move to build support before the market pushes higher and breaks through the high of the day.





I wanted to protect yesterday’s profits, so I planned to exit on a bullish 15-minute close breaking above the minor consolidation, back into my intraday S/R level. My thought process was: "This looks like it’s not going any lower — it’s going to stop here and push into the high of the day again."
But I also reminded myself: "It’s a fool’s game to act on what I think the market looks like it’s going to do, especially on the lower time frames — it can effortlessly do the opposite." So I left the trade open and kept an open mind.





The market began to fall, and I moved my stop to allow for a test of the minor 15-minute consolidation. I committed to exiting at either the stop-loss (-0.6%), the take-profit level (2%), or on a 30-minute close to the upside followed by a break of that candle’s high.




On the a bullish 30-minute close , I adjusted my stop to allow the high of that candle to be tested (-0.15%).

I was stopped out (-0.16%). I felt slight emotional pain but reminded myself that I was keeping the loss small and potentially avoiding tilt or a severe drawdown.

I re-entered on a bearish 15-minute close, with my stop placed at the high of the day. Waiting for confirmation is slowing down my trading in a positive way — it's helping me avoid getting tangled up in tilt.

Looking back, the minor level of consolidation where price had previously stalled and then broke below could have easily acted as a magnet, drawing the market back toward it before any real sell-off. I could have allowed a bit more room for that level to be tested.



I tightened my stop as I was felt mental exhaustion/ tilt seeping in (-0.37%)

Stopped out at -0.37%.