Intraday Trading Across Financial Markets: A Systematic Review of Behavioral, Technical, Quantitative, and AI-Based Trading Strategies

Abstract

Intraday trading has emerged as one of the most dynamic areas of financial market research due to advances in electronic trading platforms, algorithmic execution, artificial intelligence, and high-frequency market participation. Despite the rapid expansion of scholarly work, the literature remains fragmented across technical analysis, behavioural finance, market microstructure, quantitative finance, machine learning, and cryptocurrency markets. This study presents a systematic and critical literature review of 81 influential research papers published between 1990 and 2026 to synthesize the evolution of intraday trading research, identify major thematic developments, and highlight unresolved research gaps. The reviewed studies are organized into key themes, including technical trading strategies, candlestick and price action analysis, investor psychology and behavioural biases, market microstructure, momentum and trend-following strategies, volatility spill overs and market connectedness, algorithmic and high-frequency trading, machine learning and reinforcement learning applications, and cryptocurrency and commodity market trading. The review reveals a clear transition from conventional technical analysis toward data-driven and artificial intelligence-based trading approaches, accompanied by increasing emphasis on market efficiency, execution quality, and risk management. However, several limitations persist in the existing literature. Most studies emphasize forecasting accuracy or statistical significance rather than economic profitability after accounting for transaction costs, slippage, liquidity constraints, and execution risks. Furthermore, relatively limited evidence exists on integrated trading frameworks that combine price action, behavioural finance, market microstructure, and artificial intelligence, particularly in emerging markets such as India. By consolidating nearly four decades of research, this review provides a comprehensive knowledge base for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers while proposing future research directions for developing adaptive, robust, and practically implementable intraday trading strategies.