What are the forex market hours where the forex market is open for trading?
Well, in this article, you will learn about the forex trading hours during the day. You will also learn about different forex trading sessions during the day.
There may be some of you who are just starting to learn about forex trading and you may think that the forex market operates like the share market/stock market in terms of the trading times during the day.
It doesn’t.
Your see, the share market opens during the morning and closes in the afternoon but the forex markets does not operate in this manner. As a matter of fact, the forex market is a 24hr market.
Which means, the forex market follows the sun around the world. Which means you can be anywhere in the world and trade the forex market from your laptop as long as you have an internet connection.
So does that mean that it is ok to trade the forex market at any hour during that day?
No. And I will tell you why in here.
Forex Trading Sessions
What are forex trading sessions?
Well, forex trading sessions are different periods during the day at different parts of the world where forex is traded DURING the day.
There are 3 Main Forex Trading Sessions:
- London Session
- New York Session
- & Asian Trading Session (The Asian Trading Session Involves Sydney & Tokyo put together)
Now, lets look at the forex trading times for each of the forex trading sessions mentioned above.
Note: the times below are given in GMT. You need to convert these times to your appropriate time zone.
Forex Market Hours For London Session
As you can see above:
- the london forex trading session starts at 8AM GMT and Ends at 4PM GMT.
- also during the london trading session, the New York Trading session comes into play at 1 PM GMT (there’s an overlap)
Forex Market Hours For New York Trading Session
Referring to the same table above
- The New York Trading Session Starts at 1 PM GMT and Ends at 9PM GMT
Forex Market Hours For The Asian Trading Session
If you live in Asia, like in China, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines etc, the following are the forex trading times. Asia can be divided into to part, the Sydney and Tokyo trading sessions and there’s an overlap in trading times as well.
The Asian Trading Session Starts at 10 PM GMT and Ends At 7 AM GMT.
Sydney Forex Market Hours
Sydney trading session form the start of the Asian trading session and starts first 10 PM GMT right after New York Forex Trading Session Ends. The Sydney Trading Session Ends at 7 AM GMT.
Tokyo Forex Market Hours
The Tokyo Forex Trading Session ends at 9AM GMT and notice that there’s an overlap on 1hr between the London Trading Session and the Asian Trading Session.
Forex Market Hours For Eastern Standard Time (EST)
If you live in Eastern Standard Time Zone, the the following are the Forex Trading Hours for your timezone:
New York Session opens at 8:00 am to 5:00 pm EST
Tokyo Session opens at 7:00 pm to 4:00 am EST
Sydney Session opens at 5:00 pm to 2:00 am EST
London Session opens at 3:00 am to 12:00 noon EST
Forex Market Hours For Australia (AEST)
If you live in Australia in Queensland, the following table give you the start and end times for the different forex trading sessions in your own time:
As you can see, below, the Asian Trading Session (Sydney + Tokyo) starts as 8am EST and finishes at 7PM EST.
The best advantage of living in Australia or the Asia is that the London Forex Trading Session starts in the afternoon when you are most likely at home which means you can spend at least 3-5 hours each day after work to trade the forex market
Other parts of the world are not so lucky like the US or south America where they have to wake up in the middle of the night to trade the London Session.
So folks, if you live in those countries, it may pay to live in Asia if you are making good money trading forex.
What Forex Time Zone Is Used By Your Forex Broker?
You will notice that your forex broker may have a time zone that does not match any of these forex trading times as mentioned here.
Usually, the timezones you see on the forex broker’s trading platform will most likely be the time zone that the country which your forex broker operates in.
In the scope of things, what time your forex brokers uses on the trading platform is really irrelevant (not important) at all. All you need to know is the start/end times of the 3 main trading sessions given above in your own timezone and that should be sufficient.
If you are still confused about the time used by your forex broker, you should contact them and ask. Most forex brokers would have that information on their websites.
Best Forex Trading Hours?
Here’s the thing: you don’t want to be trading in a slow moving market.
Therefore,the best time to trade the forex market is when the forex market has huge volumes of trades.
This means there’s a lot of active trading and there’s a good chance that if you catch a trend at the right times, you can make profits.
A slow market is a pain in the bum.
I’ve traded the Asian Session and it generally tends to be very slow. Price does not move much at all. You’ll be frustrated and you’ll waste your time.
The best forex trading hours in my opinion is to trade during the London Session and also trading during the London and New Your Session trading session overlap. That’s when you two lots traders from two different timezones trading together and it does create some good moves in the market and the chance to profit.
Is Picking The Right Forex Trading Hours Necessary For Forex Trading Success?
Yes and No.
Let me explain why I say yes and no.
If your trading strategy is based on an END of day trading or daily candlesticks/bars and you need to only monitor check once daily to place your trade and walk away,then your trading success won’t be dependent on picking the right forex trading hours.
For example, if you are trading using the inside bar trading strategy based on the close of the daily candlestick, you don’t need to all these forex trading sessions at all because you are not interested about about minutes and hours, but just the daily bars/candlesticks.
But if your forex trading strategy is based on 1 minute chart up to 4hr charts, then it is necessary for you to pick the right forex trading hours to trade.
Summary
- the forex market is a 24 market and follows the sun around the globe. Which means whatever part of the world where it is day, then forex is actively traded in that part of the world.
- there are 3 main forex trading sessions, the Asian, London and New York Forex trading sessions.
- the best times to trade forex are during the hours when the market is actively traded with lot of huge trading volumes going through and the London and New Your Trading Session Fit this category.
- Forex Trading during the Asian session tends to be really slow and and can frustrate you a lot.
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