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Globex vs Continuous Charts: How Futures Traders Use the Right Levels

In the futures market, price discovery doesn’t stop when the stock market closes.

That’s one of the biggest differences between futures and other markets — and one of the first things new traders misunderstand.


At CLiK Trading Education, we see this confusion most often with new futures traders. They draw levels, plan trades, and manage risk, but they’re doing it without fully understanding which session or chart those levels come from.


This blog explains:

  • What Globex is in futures trading

  • What continuous charts are actually showing

  • How both affect buy and sell zones

  • And the most common beginner mistakes we see — and how to avoid them


What Is Globex in the Futures Market?


CME Globex is the electronic trading system where most major futures contracts trade nearly 24 hours a day.


That includes:

  • Index futures (S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow, Russell)

  • Commodities

  • Rates and other derivatives


For futures traders, this means:

  • Markets open Sunday evening (UK time)

  • Trading continues through Asia and Europe

  • The US session is part of a continuous auction, not a fresh start


Chart depicting S&P 500 E-mini Futures price movements during the Globex trading session, highlighting periods of consolidation and breakout from October 13th to 18th.
Chart depicting S&P 500 E-mini Futures price movements during the Globex trading session, highlighting periods of consolidation and breakout from October 13th to 18th.

Why Globex matters

Overnight trading:

  • Establishes highs and lows before the US open

  • Shows early acceptance or rejection of price

  • Often sets the tone for the main session


Globex isn’t “after hours”. In futures, it’s simply part of the same market.


What Is a Continuous Futures Chart?

A continuous chart links individual futures contracts together as they expire and roll forward.


Instead of analysing:

  • March contract

  • Then switching to June

  • Then September

You see one continuous price history.


Stock chart showing E-mini S&P 500 futures data. Green/red lines depict trends. Months and years marked below; note explains contract months.
Chart depicting the E-mini S&P 500 continuous futures contracts with key month and year markers highlighting the start of new contract months from June 2014 to March 2015.

Why traders use continuous charts

They’re useful for:

  • Long-term structure

  • Major support and resistance

  • Understanding historical acceptance and rejection

But there’s an important distinction:

A continuous chart is for context — not execution.

It smooths price to help analysis. It is not the exact traded price of the current contract at every moment.


How Buy and Sell Zones Form in Futures


Globex-based zones (short-term, tactical)

These typically come from:

  • Overnight highs and lows

  • Asia and Europe session extremes

  • Areas where price stalled or rotated overnight


Why they matter:

  • The US session often reacts to them

  • Liquidity and stops tend to sit around them

  • They provide clear intraday risk references


These are decision zones.


Continuous-chart zones (longer-term, strategic)

These come from:

  • Old highs and lows

  • Multi-week balance areas

  • Long-term rejection zones


Why they matter:

  • Institutions anchor risk here

  • They define “cheap” vs “expensive”

  • They provide the bigger picture


These are context zones.

Both matter - just not for the same reason.


How We Combine This at CLiK

We keep it simple and repeatable.


Step 1: Start with the continuous chart

  • Mark major structural zones

  • Identify trend or balance

  • Understand where price makes sense to react


Step 2: Analyse the Globex session

  • Mark overnight high and low

  • Note acceptance or rejection near higher-timeframe zones

  • Observe where price sits heading into the main session


Step 3: Execute with structure

  • Trade near Globex-defined levels

  • Align with higher-timeframe context

  • Use overnight levels for risk management


No guessing. No chasing moves. Just location, structure, and risk.


Common Beginner Mistakes


1. Treating all levels as equal

A level from a continuous chart does not carry the same meaning as a current-session Globex high or low.

Fix: Know whether your level is context or execution.


2. Ignoring the overnight session

Many beginners assume Globex is thin or irrelevant.

Then price reacts perfectly at an overnight level - and they’re confused.

Fix: Always mark the overnight high and low, even if you only trade the US session.


3. Expecting precision to the tick

Continuous charts smooth price. Live futures markets don’t.

Fix: Trade zones, not lines. Price reacts to areas, not perfect numbers.


4. Trading without higher-time frame context

Jumping straight into a short-term chart without knowing where price sits structurally leads to random decisions.

Fix: Higher timeframe first. Execution second.


5. Using indicators to fix location problems

Indicators don’t compensate for poor structure.

Fix: Structure first. Tools second.


The CLiK Takeaway


In the futures market:

  • Globex shows you where decisions are being made now

  • Continuous charts show you why those decisions matter


When you combine both:

  • Your zones become clearer

  • Your risk improves

  • Your confidence grows


That’s not about predicting direction. It’s about trading location with intent.

And that’s where consistency starts.


⚠️ Educational content only. Futures trading involves risk and is not suitable for everyone.

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