From our previous lessons, you heard quite a lot times that forex market is 24/5, it runs worldwide etc. In this lesson, we will breakdown market hours for you. We will discuss at length about specific trading market hours (Est.), best hours for forex trading, forex session times and market open hours.

Forex Market Open Hours

Forex market operates 24 hours a day. Traders all around the world trade currencies digitally across many countries and time zones. So, when a country’s trading day ends, another begins. Therefore, currency values are always responding to economic and geopolitical developments in various countries.

There are four major forex time zone exchange centers all around the world.

• New York Session
• London Session
• Tokyo Session &
• Sydney Session

Understanding forex market hours help traders make smart trading decisions by helping them optimize their trading during the time of high liquidity. When any of these major markets are inactive, the currency pairs connected with them may have lower liquidity. So, planning your trading strategy on active sessions and overlaps is critical for optimizing possible gains.

Key Forex Sessions & Market Hours

Forex Trading Hub	Active Forex Market Hours (UTC)
New York City, USA	1:00 PM – 10:00 PM
London, England	7:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Tokyo, Japan	12:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Sydney, Australia	9:00 PM – 6:00 AM

The Asian trading session is typically the least active. Followed by the Sydney and London sessions. The New York session is the most active, because it overlaps with both the London and Sydney sessions.

Major Trading Session

Three main forex time zone are the Asian trading session (Tokyo), the European trading session (London), and the North American trading session (New York). There  open and close hours are as follows:

• Sydney’s Session is 9:00 PM to 7:00 AM GMT, or 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM local time.
• Tokyo is open from 11:00 PM to 9:00 AM GMT (8:00 AM to 6:00 PM local time).
• London’s Session is 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM GMT, or 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM local time.
• 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM local time, or 1:00 PM and 11:00 PM GMT, for New York Session.

Best Hours to Trade

You may have noticed that there are many times during the day when multiple trading sessions are ongoing at the same time. These are overlapping trading sessions. The overlapping trading periods offers the highest level of liquidity for certain currency pairs and results in wider price movements.

Why is it best hours to trade?– well, higher liquidity and increased trading volume are usually beneficial for speculative forex traders. Therefore, when you trade specific pairs in their active sessions, you will be able to take profitable trades. This is especially true for short term strategies like scalping or day trading. So, let’s see the overlapping forex market hours-

• European-North American Overlap (8 AM – 11 AM): 

This forex market timings is widely regarded as the best time to trade forex. It overlaps with the opening hours of both the New York and London major forex trading time zones.

Trading activity in European currencies peaks during this time, offering highest liquidity for currency pairs involving the Euro, Pound, Sterling and Swiss Franc. Notably, this includes the crucial 8AM to 11AM period when both the New York and London markets are active.

• Asian-European Overlap (12 AM – 3AM): 

During this period, Sydney closes at 1:00 AM, while Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore continue trading, overlapping with Frankfurt and London at 2:00 AM and 3:00 AM respectively. This time frame usually sees the highest liquidity for the Japanese Yen and the European Yen crosses.

• Australian-Asian Overlap (9:00 PM – 12:00AM): 

This period marks the overlap between the New Zealand and Australian markets with those of Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong. It offers the most liquidity for the Australian and New Zealand Dollars and their crosses.

During these overlapping sessions, traders can witness active trading in specific currency pairs, such as AUD/USD, AUD/JPY, EUR/AUD, NZD/USD, AUD/NZD, and NZD/JPY.

Gaining an understanding of forex market hours can help you efficiently manage order execution, news impact, and liquidity. Be alert, modify your trade strategies, and never stop killing it.

This is what you learned today-

• Forex market open hours and major market sessions
• Specific forex market hours for Major exchange
• Best hours to trade forex

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