Futures · technicalIntradayNIFTYlow complexity

Golden-ratio breakout

An intraday futures breakout that sets its trigger levels with the golden ratio. It adds yesterday's high-low range to the first 10 minutes' range, multiplies by 0.618, and places buy and sell levels that distance above and below yesterday's close. The first break of either level is traded with a 0.5% stop and a 2% target, and anything open is closed at 15:15.

Trades the first NIFTY futures break of levels set 0.618 times yesterday's range plus the opening range away from yesterday's close, with a 0.5% stop.

Market viewEither direction (follows the move)

TradesNIFTY near-month futures, 1 lot

RiskOpen-ended (loss not capped by the structure)

CapitalFutures margin

SuitsBeginner

Trades a month11.4

Typical hold3.8 hours

Profitable months6 of 12

Longest losing run5 trades

Made money inTrend days that close near the high or lowEvenings with India VIX above 14.5

Lost money inChoppy wide-range days that close mid-rangeCalm days with VIX below 11.5

Default settings

Symbol

Or minutes

Ratio

SL %

Target %

Last entry

Exit time

Lots

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How it trades

What it trades

Universe

NIFTY Intraday · 1 Oct 25 → 30 Sep 26

Enters

First tick beyond yesterday's close ± 0.618 × (yesterday's range + 10-minute range), up to 14:30

Legs

BUY FUT · Near month (above previous close + G) · Near-month future · 1 lotSELL FUT · Near month (below previous close - G) · Near-month future · 1 lot

Exits

stop 0.5% from the entrytarget 2% from the entrytime Square off at 15:15

Re-entry

None - first trigger of the day only

Levels

G = RATIO x ((previous session high - low) + (opening-range high - low)), with the previous session's high / low / close from the daily bars of the rolled near-month future and the opening range = the exchange high / low of the first OR_MINUTES minutes. Upper = previous close + G, lower = previous close - G.

Entry

after the opening range, the first futures tick above the upper level buys LOTS, the first tick below the lower level sells LOTS - filled at that tick. Only the first trigger of the day; none after LAST_ENTRY.

Stop

SL_PCT % of the entry price (fills at the level).

Exit

TARGET_PCT % target (at the level); anything open at EXIT_TIME is squared off.

Results

PRE-BUILT · DEFAULTS

NIFTY · 2025-10-01 → 2026-09-30 · 137 trades · before costs

Net P&L+₹33,942

Win rate47%

Max drawdown−₹54,831

Avg per trade+₹248

Profit factor1.09

Worst trade−₹9,790

Where it made and lost money

In this test, trend days that closed near the high or low made ₹2,32,121 over 54 trades with a 69% win rate; the breakout kept going and the trade ran to 15:15. Choppy wide-range days lost ₹1,39,688 over 32 trades and won only 16%: a swing wide enough to reach the golden-ratio level usually reversed into the 0.5% stop. Quiet sessions lost ₹50,689 over 50. Volatility helped: evenings with India VIX above 14.5 made ₹47,633 over 38 trades, while calm days below 11.5 lost ₹31,328 over 41, when a trigger was more often a brief poke.

Kind of session on the entry day

Quiet session (range under 0.75%)−₹50,68950 trades46% won

Trend day (closed near the high or low)+₹2,32,12154 trades69% won

Choppy day (wide range, closed mid-range)−₹1,39,68832 trades16% won

Session direction on the entry day

NIFTY closed above its open−₹1,16,23861 trades36% won

NIFTY closed below its open+₹1,57,98275 trades57% won

How the entry day opened

Gap up of 0.4% or more−₹2,75021 trades52% won

Flat open+₹63,47783 trades52% won

Gap down of 0.4% or more−₹18,98432 trades34% won

India VIX the evening before

VIX below 11.5 (calm)−₹31,32841 trades46% won

VIX 11.5-14.5 (normal)+₹25,43957 trades51% won

VIX above 14.5 (nervous)+₹47,63338 trades45% won

Day of the week

Monday−₹25,25030 trades47% won

Tuesday+₹51,05623 trades61% won

Wednesday−₹12,43324 trades38% won

Thursday−₹15,83526 trades38% won

Friday+₹11,36632 trades53% won

Trend going in

Uptrend (NIFTY above its 20-day average)+₹8,63870 trades51% won

Downtrend (NIFTY below its 20-day average)+₹33,10666 trades44% won

Expiry day (NIFTY weekly)

Expiry day+₹31,58627 trades56% won

Other days+₹10,158109 trades46% won

The same trades, split by the market conditions around each entry, before costs.

About this strategy

Take the previous session's high, low and close of the near-month NIFTY future.
After the first 10 minutes, add yesterday's range to the opening range and multiply by 0.618 to get the distance G.
Set the upper level at yesterday's close plus G and the lower level at yesterday's close minus G.
Buy one lot on the first tick above the upper level, or sell on the first tick below the lower level; only the first trigger of the day counts, and none after 14:30.
Place a stop 0.5% from the entry and a target 2% away.
Close any open trade at 15:15; the session right after a futures expiry is skipped.

Why traders use it

The levels scale with recent volatility: a wide range yesterday or a busy open pushes them further out, so only meaningful moves trigger. Using 0.618 gives a round, memorable multiplier that many chart readers already treat as significant, and the rule needs nothing beyond yesterday's numbers and the first few minutes of today. It is simple enough to calculate by hand before the session settles, which helps explain its popularity.

Works best whenIn this test, trend days that closed near their high or low and nervous periods with India VIX above 14.5, when a break of the level was followed by a sustained move into the afternoon.

Struggles whenChoppy days that swing widely and close mid-range, where price reaches the level and reverses into the 0.5% stop, and calm low-VIX sessions, where triggers were often brief pokes.

The year in plain words

On NIFTY futures from 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 with default settings, the levels triggered 137 trades, 47% of which won, for ₹33,942 before costs (profit factor 1.09). The 2% target was hit just once; 101 trades closed at 15:15 and 35 at the 0.5% stop. Results swung widely: February and March made over ₹1 lakh together, while October lost ₹29,756 and January ₹18,864. The largest single win was ₹32,840. After ₹20 per order and bid-ask slippage only ₹8,437 remained, a thin margin for the drawdown of ₹54,831 before costs.

What the settings do

Or minutesLength of the opening range added to yesterday's range. A longer range widens the levels and delays the first possible trigger.RatioThe multiplier applied to the combined ranges. Smaller ratios put levels closer to yesterday's close and trigger more often; larger ratios trigger only on strong moves.SL %The stop distance from the entry in percent of price; 0.5% is roughly 125 points at a NIFTY level of 25,000.Target %The profit target in percent of price. At 2% it was reached only once in the year, so most trades end at the time exit.Last entryNo new breakout is taken after this time.Exit timeWhen any open trade is squared off.

Risks

A handful of big days provided most of the profit, so missing one would change the year's result.
The 2% target rarely fills, so results depend on where the market sits at 15:15.
The after-costs profit was small compared with the drawdown, leaving little room for worse fills.
Futures need margin and carry full point-for-point exposure.

Who it suits

Intraday futures traders who want one rules-based trade a day with levels they can calculate before the session gets busy, and who can sit through months of losses waiting for trending periods.

Questions traders ask

What is the golden ratio breakout strategy?

It sets buy and sell levels at yesterday's close plus and minus 0.618 times the sum of yesterday's range and today's opening range. The first break of either level is traded in that direction with a percentage stop and target.

Is the golden ratio strategy profitable on NIFTY?

In this backtest on NIFTY futures from 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026 it made ₹33,942 before costs and ₹8,437 after ₹20 per order and bid-ask slippage, with statutory charges extra. A few strong months carried the year. Past results do not guarantee future ones.

Does it work on BANKNIFTY?

The rule is built from ranges, so it needs no rescaling and the symbol can be set to BANKNIFTY. BANKNIFTY futures still trade monthly. The pre-built results shown here are for NIFTY only.

Why is the session after futures expiry skipped?

Yesterday's high, low and close on that day belong to the contract that just expired, while the new month trades at a different price because of its basis. Using them would place the levels in the wrong spot.

Terms used here

Breakout Opening range breakout (ORB)Futures Stop loss (SL)Target / take profit Basis Before costs / after taxes / after all costs Max drawdown Without the best 10% of trades Profit factor

Before you rely on it

WATCH OUTthe repository only prints the levels - there is no published backtest; the author calls it a "bad" but popular strategy. Gross of costs.

WHERE THE RULES WERE UNCLEAR · OUR CHOICES- The README says a 10-minute opening range, the code takes the first 15-minute bar: OR_MINUTES = 10 (README), 15 reproduces the code. - The source has no time exit (a 2% intraday target rarely fills): square-off at EXIT_TIME 15:15 is ours, and so is the LAST_ENTRY cut-off. - The session after a futures expiry is skipped: yesterday's high / low / close there belong to the expired contract while the new month trades a basis away.

Also known asgolden number strategybanknifty golden ratio

Backtests run on historical NSE data with fills at the last traded price. "Before costs" excludes brokerage, taxes and slippage. Quantsapp is not recommending any strategy; it is just a backtesting utility. Past results are not a promise of future returns.