These are the best ETFs for day trading based on volume, volatility, and other metrics. Since not all traders are interested in the same things (e.g., high volatility), I have created four lists to suit different types of traders.
- Highest volume (unleveraged)
- Most Volatile (leveraged)
- Most Volatile (unleveraged)
- Best ETFs for cash accounts (if you can’t short)
All ETFs on these lists trade an average of at least 10 million shares per day. The list is updated near the middle of each month.
Here is a summary list of the Best Day Trading ETFs as of August 19, 2026. See the full statistics below.
| Highest Volume (unleveraged) | BITO | DRAM | SPY/SPDN | QQQ | XLF |
| Most Volatile (leveraged) | KORU | SOXL/SOXS | SQQQ/TQQQ | ||
| Most Volatile (unleveraged) | DRAM | EWY | SMH | GDX | IGV |
| Best ETFs for cash accounts | SPY/SH | QQQ/PSQ | TQQQ/SQQQ |
Best Day Trading ETFs – Highest Volume (Unleveraged)
High volume means you can enter and exit quickly with minimal slippage. The ETFs on this list are for day traders seeking moderate daily price movement with huge volume, so you can take small or large position sizes. These are the highest-volume unleveraged ETFs. The list is ordered by volume, but you’ll see that each ETF moves a different amount each day. Trade the ones that match your desired volume and movement preference.
Highest volume ETFs (unleveraged) as of August 19, 2026. Single-stock ETFs excluded.
| ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) – The daily average (30) volume is 202 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 2%.
Average daily movement is based on the Intraday Range, which is the average price movement between the day’s high and low (excluding overnight price gaps). This ETF tracks Bitcoin. |
| Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) – The daily average (30) volume is 72 million, and the average (30) daily movement in percentage terms is 5.81%.
This ETF tracks the performance of a basket of stocks that produce computing memory. |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) – The daily average (30) volume is 46 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 0.85%.
This ETF tracks the S&P 500 index (the largest US companies), making it quite stable compared to individual stocks and widely used by both day traders and investors. An alternative is Direxion Daily Bear 1x ETF (SPDN) with 40 million average volume and daily average movement similar to SPY. |
| Invesco QQQ Trust Series (QQQ) – The daily average (30) volume is 38 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 1.47%.
This ETF tracks the Nasdaq 100 index. |
| Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) – The daily average (30) volume is 31 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 1.07%.
This ETF tracks a basket of finance-related stocks. |
Want to learn how to day trade stocks and ETFs? The Price Action Stock Day Trading Course shows you what to trade and how to capitalize on patterns that repeat over and over almost every day.
Best Day Trading ETFs – Most Daily Movement (Leveraged)
This category is for traders seeking ETFs with the most daily volatility. Large daily movement has the potential to create larger profits, especially since these ETFs also have high volume.
Most volatile ETFs (leveraged) with lots of volume as of August 19, 2026. Single-stock ETFs excluded.
| Direxion Daily MSCI Korea Bull Bull 3x ETF (KORU) – The daily average (30) volume is 32 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 12.08%.
This ETF moves three times as much as a basket of South Korean stocks. |
| Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x ETF (SOXL) – The daily average (30) volume is 70 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 11.88%.
This ETF moves three times as much as a basket of semiconductor stocks. An alternative is Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3x ETF (SOXS) with 135 million average volume and daily average movement similar to SOXL. It moves in 3x as much, in the opposite direction, as semiconductor stocks. |
| ProShares Ultra QQQ (TQQQ) – The daily average (30) volume is 60 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 4.42%.
This ETF moves 3x as much as the Nasdaq 100 index. An alternative is ProShares Ultrapro Short QQQ (SQQQ) with 53 million average volume and daily average movement similar to TQQQ. It moves in 3x as much as the Nasdaq 100 index, in the opposite direction. |
Best Day Trading ETFs – Most Daily Movement (Unleveraged)
This section is for day traders seeking high-volume, unleveraged ETFs.
Most volatile ETFs (unleveraged) with lots of volume as of August 19, 2026. Single-stock ETFs excluded.
| Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) – The daily average (30) volume is 72 million, and the average (30) daily movement in percentage terms is 5.81%.
This ETF tracks the performance of a basket of stocks that produce computing memory. |
| iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY) – The daily average (30) volume is 24 million, and the average (30) daily movement in percentage terms is 3.96%.
This ETF tracks a basket of South Korean stocks. |
| VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) – The daily average (30) volume is 11 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 3.24%.
This ETF tracks a basket of semiconductor stocks. |
| VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) – The daily average (30) volume is 21 million, and the average (30) daily movement in percentage terms is 2.76%.
This ETF tracks a basket of gold mining stocks. |
| iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) – The daily average (30) volume is 13 million, and the average (30) daily movement in percentage terms is 2.55%.
This ETF tracks a basket of software ETFs. |
The Stock Day Trading Course shows you how to make money in the first 30 minutes after the market open (trade longer if you like) so you can make your money and then move on to other things.
Best Day Trading ETFs for Cash Accounts
This section is for day traders using a cash account. With a cash account, you’re unable to short sell ETFs. Cash accounts are common in tax-protected accounts. While these types of accounts are often used for long-term investing, you can also day trade a cash account (and benefit from tax protection if applicable).
Since you can’t go short, you will need to pick a long and a short ETF. If you believe an index will fall, for example, you buy the “short ETF”. If you believe the index will rise, you buy the “long ETF)
Best ETFs for day trading long and short in a cash account, August 19, 2026, 2026.
| ETF Combination 1.
Monitor SPY. If you believe it will go up, buy SPY. If you believe it will go down, buy SH as it will go up when SPY goes down. This combination allows you to potentially make money whether SPY rises or falls. SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) – The daily average (30) volume is 46 million, and the average (30) daily movement is 0.85%. This ETF tracks the S&P 500 index (the largest US companies), making it quite stable compared to individual stocks and widely used by both day traders and investors. Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 1x ETF (SPDN) – The daily average (30) volume is 40 million, and the average (30) daily movement is very similar to SPY. This ETF tracks the S&P 500 index but moves in the opposite direction. |
| ETF Combination 2. Monitor QQQ. If you believe it will go up, buy QQQ. If you believe it will go down, buy PSQ as it will go up if QQQ goes down. This allows you to potentially make money whether QQQ rises or falls. QQQ has more daily movement than SPY. Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) – The daily average (30) volume is 38 million and the average (30) daily movement is 1.47%. This ETF tracks the largest companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. It is mainly composed of technology-related stocks. ProShares Short QQQ (PSQ) – The daily average (30) volume is 8 million, and the average (30) daily movement is very similar to QQQ. This ETF tracks the largest companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, but it moves in the opposite direction (inverse) as them. |
| ETF Combination 3.
Monitor QQQ. If you believe it will go up, buy TQQQ. If you believe it will go down, buy SQQQ as it will go up when QQQ goes down. This combination allows you to potentially make money whether QQQ rises or falls…with 3x leverage. ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) – The daily average (30) volume is 60 million and the average (30) daily movement is 4.42%. This ETF moves 3x as much as QQQ on a daily basis. ProShares UltraPro Short QQQ (SQQQ) – The daily average (30) volume is 54 million, and the average (30) daily movement is very similar to TQQQ. This ETF moves 3x as much as QQQ on a daily basis, in the opposite direction. |
Day Trading ETF Alternatives
ETFs are a great choice for day trading because some of them on the list are more insulated from price shocks than individual stocks. Many of the ETFs on this list are based on the price movements of hundreds of stocks; if one or several stocks made surprise announcements, the effect would be diluted, and the ETF would continue to trade as usual. Individual stocks with surprise announcements may see wild price swings or even have their trading temporarily halted.
That said, while ETFs are more diversified than trading individual stocks, this can also dilute the daily average moves. The leveraged ETFs on this list may move 5% in a day, while the best day trading stocks may move 10% or even 15% per day.
Not all the ETFs are diversified, though. Some are only based on one stock or asset. This means it may perform similarly to the underlying asset, magnify returns, or move in the opposite direction if it is an inverse fund. These ETFs are highly sensitive to developments in their underlying assets. If trading them, understand that if something goes wrong with the underlying asset (bankruptcy, flash crash, overnight gaps), it will be reflected in the ETF as well.
ETFs and stocks are both viable for day trading. One isn’t better than another; it just depends on how you want to trade. Most day-trading strategies for stocks can be applied to ETFs, and vice versa.
Finding ETFs to Day Trade
StockRover is a robust scanning platform for ETFs and Stocks in the US and Canada. It is what I use for most of my stock scanning, as well as fundamental analysis.
If you are already using TradingView for charting, there is an ETF scanner within the software that you can use for free. I use TradingView charts and find the scanner quite easy to use.
You could use either of these scanners to filter for volatility or volume.
In addition, you could filter ETFs based on recent performance. For example, include a minimum average volume, such as 1 million shares. Then sort the results by performance over the last week, month, 3 months, year, or any other time frame of your choosing.
This will show you which ETFs are currently “hot” or seeing big sell-offs (weakest on the list). This may be another way to find ETFs to day trade.
Happy Day Trading!
Cory Mitchell, CMT
Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is personal investment advice, or advice to buy or sell anything. Trading is risky and can result in substantial losses, even more than deposited if using leverage. This site uses affiliate links. If you click on an external link and purchase something, this site may be compensated (at no cost to you). We graciously thank you for supporting the site in this way.