The Forex Market Hours.

The Forex Market Trading Sessions

Forex remains open 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday but not all sessions are created equal. We can break the 24 hours down in to four main trading sessions but there will be times when the market is hardly moving at all so this is important knowledge. Let’s first look at these main Forex Trading sessions and then we can explore the difference between each and the overlaps. Don’t forget that we also need to keep daylight savings time (DST) in mind.

DST On – Summer Time

DST Off – Winter Time

To confuse things further it’s worth noting that not all countries move to and from DST together. During these transitions you will only be left scratching your head for a week or so though. Just keep in mind that each trading session will open and close based on it’s local business hours and that Sydney has opposite seasons from the rest (This is why you will notice a 2 hours difference for Sydney in the tables above).

Differences Between the Trading Sessions

Not all of the forex trading sessions are created equal; the most volatile session giving out the largest movements is in London. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since 41% of all trading each day takes place there. The London session has the largest pip moments on average for all currency pairs traded and is definitely a favorite for most traders. Second place goes to New York which has slightly less movement than the London session but slightly more than Tokyo and Sydney combined. In last place you can just look at Tokyo and Sydney as one session and it provides a little less movement than New York. During this slower session though the AUD and the JPY currency pairs still move close to what they do during New York and make them prime candidates if you wanted to trade.

Forex Trading Session Overlaps

As the 24 hours in a day roll around there are some overlaps in these sessions. The main and most notable overlap is the London-New York where you can enjoy the trading volumes of both for several hours. The other overlap is much smaller and is the Tokyo-London where for just an hour you can make the most of trading volumes from both sessions. With the growth of Germany as the European powerhouse you will also notice some good volumes added to the market 1 hour before London opens. This puts another hour extension on the overlap and has proven to have some great trades even before London opens.

Here is an image taken live as this is written. During DST transitions things will change slightly but you will be able to get a good visual about what was just discussed. If you were to consider Germany then you could just extend the green London session bar back 1 hour.