Best Times to Trade Forex (Hours, Days and Months)
💡The best time to trade Forex is between 10:00 and 17:00 GMT from Tuesday to Thursday. The ideal month to trade depends on the Forex pair you select, as detailed at the end of this analysis.
Here is a full overview of Forex markets hours:
🔍 Forex Market Hours
In general, the most active trading hours occur during session overlaps, especially between the London and New York sessions. This period can be extended to include one hour before New York opens and two hours after the London session closes. This means:
■ 10:00 – 17:00 GMT (or 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST)
🕒 Trading Hours and Overlaps
The Forex market operates 24 hours a day, five days a week, from Monday to Friday. Daily activity is divided into four main sessions (summer time zones):
(1) London Session: 7:00 AM to 16:00 GMT (3:00 AM to 12:00 noon EST)
(2) New York Session: 12:00 PM to 21:00 GMT (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST)
(3) Sydney Session: 22:00 PM to 7:00 AM GMT (6:00 PM to 3:00 AM EST)
(4) Tokyo Session: 23:00 PM to 8:00 AM GMT (7:00 PM to 4:00 AM EST)
These are the summer and winter time zones of the foreign exchange market:
■ Summer Timezone (April – October)
| Time Zone | EDT | GMT |
|---|---|---|
| London Open / London Close | 3:00 AM to 12:00 PM | 7:00 AM to 16:00 |
| New York Open New York Close | 8:00 AM to 17:00 | 12:00 PM to 21:00 |
| Sydney Open / Close | 18:00 to 3:00 AM | 22:00 to 7:00 AM |
| Tokyo Open / Close | 19:00 to 4:00 AM | 23:00 to 8:00 AM |
During Winter, there are some changes in the Forex Market hours, as follows:
■ Winter Timezone (October-April)
| Time Zone | EDT | GMT |
|---|---|---|
| London Open / Close | 3:00 AM to 12:00 PM | 8:00 AM to 17:00 |
| New York Open / Close | 8:00 AM to 17:00 | 13.00 to 22.00 |
| Sydney Open / Close | 16:00 to 1:00 AM | 21:00 to 6:00 AM |
| Tokyo Open / Close | 18:00 PM to 3:00 AM | 23:00 to 8:00 AM |
🕐 Three Forex Market Overlaps
Forex overlaps happen when two sessions are open at the same time, resulting in peak trading volume. Here are the three Forex session overlaps (summer time zone):
(i) London and New York Overlap: 12:00 PM to 16:00 GMT (8:00 AM to 12:00 noon EST)
(ii) Sydney and Tokyo Overlap: 23:00 to 7:00 AM GMT (7:00 PM to 3:00 AM EST)
(iii) London and Tokyo Overlap: 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM GMT (3:00 AM to 4:00 AM EST)
Many traders prefer to open positions only during these overlaps. Additionally, many automated systems (EAs) are programmed to trade exclusively during these periods.
💱 Exploring Further Forex Trading Sessions
Let’s take a closer look at the Foreign Exchange Market sessions.
🌍 EUROPEAN SESSION
The European session is known for high volatility, accounting for about 30% of all Forex activity. The London session runs from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM GMT, but this period extends from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM GMT due to the operation of the German and French capital markets.
■ News Releases:
Key news is typically released between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM GMT.
■ Most Active Forex Pairs:
The most active pairs during this session are EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURGBP, USDCHF, and other pairs involving EUR, GBP, and CHF.
🗽 US TRADING SESSION
The US session starts at 12:00 PM GMT in summer and 1:00 PM GMT in winter, lasting until 9:00 PM GMT in summer and 10:00 PM GMT in winter. High volatility is common during this session.
■ News Releases:
The most important news is released between 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM GMT.
■ Most Active Forex Pairs:
The US Dollar, Canadian Dollar, and Mexican Peso become very active. The most active pairs include EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCHF, USDJPY, USDCAD, and USDMXN.
🦘 SYDNEY TRADING SESSION
The Pacific session is characterized by low volatility and limited liquidity.
■ News Releases:
Important news for the Australian Dollar is released at 8:30 PM, 10:30 PM, and especially 12:30 AM GMT.
For the New Zealand Dollar, key news comes at 8:00 PM and 9:45 PM GMT.
■ Most Active Forex Pairs:
Active pairs include those with AUD, NZD, and JPY, such as NZDUSD, AUDUSD, EURAUD, and AUDNZD.
🗾 TOKYO TRADING SESSION
The Asian (Tokyo) session also has limited volatility and liquidity. Volatility increases toward the end as the London session begins. The London and Tokyo overlap occurs between 7:00 AM and 8:00 AM GMT (3:00 AM to 4:00 AM EST).
■ News Releases:
Key Japanese Yen news is usually released at 11:50 PM and 4:30 AM GMT.
■ Most Active Forex Pairs:
The most active pairs include JPY, especially USDJPY and EURJPY. Often, the Tokyo session sets key trends for the entire trading day, including pairs without Asian currencies.
📅 Best Days of the Week to Trade
As the week ends on Friday, day traders prefer to close their positions. They avoid risking uncertain conditions at Monday’s opening, which could wipe out their accounts, even with tight stop-losses in place.
Mondays are usually quiet, as the market prepares to absorb the week’s upcoming news and updates. Tuesday is a strong trading day, marked by high liquidity and significant fluctuations. Wednesday is less liquid than Tuesday but remains the third most important trading day. At exactly midnight on Wednesday, swap rates are tripled to cover Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. This means going long on currency pairs with a positive interest rate differential and short on those with a negative differential.
Thursday is also a good trading day, similar to Tuesday, with high fluctuations and good liquidity. Friday features moderate liquidity and higher risk. Important news often comes out on Fridays, and as mentioned earlier, most positions are closed by late Friday as the trading week ends.
💡Overall, the most active part of the week is the middle, from Tuesday to Thursday.
📈 Best Months to Trade Forex
The best month to trade depends on the Forex pair you select, as shown in the following table. This analysis is based on 13.5 years of relative currency performance.
Table: Forex Monthly Statistics (TradingCenter.org research)
|
MONTHLY CALENDAR |
FOREX PAIRS TO GO LONG |
FOREX PAIRS TO GO SHORT |
|
EURCHF, USDJPY, USDCHF, GBPJPY, GBPCHF |
EURUSD, AUDUSD, EURAUD, EURCAD |
|
USDJPY, EURGBP |
GBPCHF, EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURCHF, NZDUSD, EURAUD |
|
USDJPY, EURGBP, EURJPY,GBPJPY | GBPCHF |
|
AUDUSD, GBPCHF, GBPUSD, NZDUSD, EURJPY, GBPJPY |
USDCAD, EURAUD, EURCAD |
|
(-) |
EURUSD, EURCAD, GBPJPY, USDCAD, AUDUSD, EURCHF |
|
EURUSD, GBPUSD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, EURJPY, EURCAD |
EURCHF, USDCHF, GBPCHF |
|
DO NOT TRADE IN JULY | |
|
USDCAD, EURGBP, EURAUD |
AUDUSD, USDJPY, EURCHF, NZDUSD, EURJPY,GBPJPY, GBPCHF |
|
EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURCHF, EURJPY, EURAUD |
USDCAD, USDCHF |
|
USDCAD, NZDUSD |
USDJPY, EURCHF, USDCHF, GBPCHF, EURGBP, EURAUD |
|
EURUSD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, EURGBP, EURJPY |
GBPUSD, USDCAD, USDCHF, EURCHF, GBPCHF |
|
EURUSD, EURCAD, AUDUSD, NZDUSD, EURGBP, EURJPY, EURAUD, GBPJPY |
USDCHF, GBPCHF |
📊 Full data can be found at TradingCenter.org. » Find the full researching data here
■ Best Times to Trade Forex (Hours, Days and Months)
ForexExperts.net
