Daily Open Indicator: The Level Everyone Watches Today

Written by Dominic Walsh · Published 6 Aug 2026 · Last updated 18 Sep 2026

The daily open indicator draws the one level almost every trader can see. Today’s opening price. It then colours the line by which side price is on, and reaches back thirty days so the history reads as a staircase.

This build ships as a compiled .ex4 for MT4 and .ex5 for MT5; the screenshots below come from EURUSD H1.

Platforms	MT4 (.ex4) + MT5 (.ex5)
Chart window	Main price chart
Plots	4: Daily open – price above, Daily open – price below, Cross up, Cross down
Alerts	popup, push notification, email, sound
Inputs	43

The plots this build puts on screen

`Daily open – price above` runs spring green while the close sits over the level.

`Daily open – price below` runs orange red when it sits under.

`Cross up` uses arrow 233 and `Cross down` uses 234.

Rays mark today’s open plus `InpHistoryDays` `5` earlier ones.

• Daily open – price above: line, medium spring green, width 2
• Daily open – price below: line, orange red, width 2
• Cross up: arrow, lime, width 2, arrow code 233
• Cross down: arrow, red, width 2, arrow code 234

How each value gets built

Every bar carries its own day’s open

The code buckets chart bars into days and stores the opening price of each. A bar from three days ago therefore shows the open from three days ago, which is what makes the staircase.

One value, two colours

Both coloured buffers receive the same number. Only the choice of buffer changes with the side price is on. So the two lines can never disagree about where the level actually sits.

Crosses carry two guards

`InpRequireExtreme` `true` asks the crossing bar to also make a local extreme. `InpMinBarsApart` `8` then blocks another cross on the same side for eight bars. Together they cut forty marks down to a handful.

Making the output useful

Colour tells you the side without reading the price.

`InpDayShiftHours` `0` uses the broker midnight, which rarely matches a session open.

The panel reports distance from the open in pips and in daily range units.

Old opens keep working as reference levels, which is why the rays stay.

Alert channels in this build: popup, push notification, email and sound, one message per closed bar.

`EnableAlerts` sits over four routes and ships true with `EnablePopup`. `EnablePushNotify` reaches a handset, `EnableEmail` sends mail and `EnableSound` plays `SoundFile`. Those three start off. A cross reports once per closed bar.

Every Daily Open Indicator input

Core settings

Setting	What it does	Default
InpDayShiftHours	Day boundary shift in hours from the broker midnight. Hours the day boundary shifts from broker midnight, default `0`.	0
InpMergeSunday	Fold the short Sunday bar forward into Monday. Fold the short Sunday bar into Monday, default `true`.	on
InpStairDays	Days the coloured open staircase reaches back over. Days the coloured staircase reaches back, default `30`.	30
InpAtrPeriod	D1 ATR period behind the distance-in-ATR readout. Daily range period behind the distance readout, default `14`.	14
InpRequireExtreme	LOCAL-EXTREME gate on a cross bar (was always on). Ask a cross bar to make a local extreme, default `true`.	on
InpMinBarsApart	Minimum bars between two crosses on the SAME side. Bars before another cross on the same side, default `8`.	8
InpTagGapPx	Caption gap in PIXELS (Pattern 17), never in points.	38
InpMaxTags	Cap on how many recent captions are drawn.	20
InpPriceScalePx	Right margin owned by the price scale, in pixels.	62
InpOneClickWpx	Width of the one-click trade panel zone, top-left.	260
InpOneClickHpx	Height of the one-click trade panel zone, top-left.	100
InpX	Panel X offset (px).	14
InpY	Panel Y offset (px) – clears the one-click panel.	120

Display settings: Day boundary

Setting	What it does	Default
InpHistoryDays	Previous daily opens drawn as faint rays. Previous opens drawn as faint rays, default `5`.	5
InpMaxBars	Chart bars scanned while the day buckets are built.	4000

Display settings: Rays

Setting	What it does	Default
InpShowRays	Draw the open rays on the chart.	on
InpShowRayLabels	Price and distance tag on every ray.	on
InpTodayColor	Today’s open ray colour.	gold
InpHistColor	Previous days’ open ray colour.	RGB 92,112,140
InpRayWidth	Today’s open ray width.	2

Display settings: Staircase

Setting	What it does	Default
InpAboveColor	Open colour while price is ABOVE it.	medium spring green
InpBelowColor	Open colour while price is BELOW it.	orange red

Display settings: Cross signals

Setting	What it does	Default
InpShowCross	Arrows when a close crosses the daily open. Draw arrows on a cross through the open, default `true`.	on
InpArrowOffsetPts	Arrow distance from the bar in points. Points between an arrow and the bar, default `30`.	30
InpShowTags	BUY / SELL captions beside the arrows.	on
InpCapFontSize	BUY / SELL caption font size.	9

Display settings: Text fencing

Setting	What it does	Default
InpLabelEdgePadPx	Padding kept clear at the chart edges, in pixels.	10
InpAvoidPanel	Keep captions clear of the info panel.	on
InpBuyColor	Cross-up arrow and caption colour.	lime
InpSellColor	Cross-down arrow and caption colour.	red

Display settings: Readout panel

Setting	What it does	Default
InpShowPanel	Show the daily-open readout panel. Show the daily open readout, default `true`.	on
InpCorner	Panel corner (0=UL 1=UR 2=LL 3=LR).	0
InpFontSize	Panel font size.	9
InpFont	Panel font (monospaced keeps the columns square).	Consolas
InpPanelBg	Panel background colour.	RGB 8,14,28
InpBorderColor	Panel border colour.	deep sky blue
InpTextColor	Panel body text colour.	gainsboro

Alert settings

Setting	What it does	Default
EnableAlerts	Master alert switch.	on
EnablePopup	Terminal popup alert.	on
EnablePushNotify	Push notification to the MetaQuotes ID.	off
EnableEmail	E-mail alert (Tools > Options > Email).	off
EnableSound	Play a sound file on a cross.	off
SoundFile	Sound file in the terminal Sounds folder.	alert.wav

Which markets and timeframes suit it

The daily open matters most intraday. EURUSD H1 is the reference chart, where twenty-four bars sit between opens. On M5 the staircase steps every two hundred and eighty bars. On daily bars the level and the candle are the same thing.

Where it comes unstuck

Broker midnight is not a session open, so the level can land mid-move.

`InpRequireExtreme` `true` filters hard, which means some genuine crosses go unmarked.

Thirty days of staircase plus five rays is a busy chart on a small screen.

Copy the compiled Daily Open Indicator file into your MQL4/Indicators folder, and the MT5 build into MQL5/Indicators, then restart the terminal and drag it onto a chart. The step-by-step guide with screenshots is at how to install MT4 and MT5 indicators.

Related on forexmt4systems.com: New York Open Strategy.

Background reading on the method behind the Daily Open Indicator: Implied open on Wikipedia, Mcclellan Oscillator at StockCharts ChartSchool.

Download the Daily Open Indicator for MT4 and MT5

The zip holds the compiled Daily Open Indicator build for MT4 and MT5, plus a short README. Compiled files only, no source. Enter your email below and the download link arrives in your inbox.

FAQ

What does InpDayShiftHours 0 assume?

That you want the broker’s own midnight as the day boundary. Many traders prefer the New York or London open instead, and this input shifts the boundary by whole hours to match.

What does InpMergeSunday fold forward?

Because most brokers open a very short Sunday bar of two or three hours. Treating it as its own day would produce a daily open from almost no trading, so folding it into Monday gives a more useful level.

What does InpRequireExtreme add to a cross?

It asks the crossing bar to also make a local high or low. A bar that drifts through the open without making an extreme is usually noise, and this gate removes most of those.

How far back does InpStairDays 30 reach?

Thirty days of coloured staircase, so each bar in that window shows its own day’s open. Beyond that the buffers stay empty. Raising it costs nothing but chart clutter.

Are results guaranteed?

No. Trading involves risk. Results are not guaranteed; past performance is not indicative of future results. Use the Daily Open Indicator as one input. Always backtest before trading live.