Forex Trading Hours

Forex trading hours are continous from 22:05 GMT Sunday to 22:00 GMT Friday as the forex market travels from Sydney to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Europe and from their it closes a trading day in the US. This is more or less irrelevant to the retail trader as what is important is that through online forex he is enabled to access the online markets 24 hours a day with no limitations and with opportunities for spontaneous reactions to breaking news that can hit the headlines at any time of the day around the clock.

Due to the 24 hour nature of the foreign exchange will allow the online trader to engage in selling and trading at any time of the day. The average trading volume of the forex market in a whole is estimated to exceed the figure of 4 trillion dollars which is several times larger than all the US stock markets combined and with the basic and primary difference that the large majority of this figure being speculative due to the high liquidity which is available in the foreign exchange.

Asian Trading Session

The Asian Trading session is the first major money center to open and therefore the start of the first major session in the forex marke with the start of business hours in Tokyo which is 7pm Eastern Time on Sunday. Only approximately 7.6% of forex transactions go through Tokyo trading desks The Asian trading session is the least active of the three major sessions. The Asian session is a relatively slow market for all currency pairs and not generally suitable for day trading.

European Trading Session

The next trading session to begin is the European trading session which begins with the start of London business hours at 2 AM Eastern Standard Time. London is the main player of the FOREX market with over 32% of all forex transactions carried out there. The London session is open from 08:00 GMT until 16:00 GMT and the most active currencies are the EUR, GBP and USD.

US Trading Session

The US session which begins with the start of New York business hours at 8 AM Eastern Standard Time. Roughly 19% of all FOREX transactions flowing through New York Dealing Rooms. The most active time for the forex market is approximately from 8am to 12pm when both London and New York trading desks are open. This is when there is generally the highest volatility in the market. The US session is open from 13:00 GMT until 22:00 GMT and is an active market for the USD, EUR, GBP, AUD and JPY.

To Conclude

For traders who wish to day trading, the most productive hours are between the opening of the London markets at 08:00 GMT and the closing of the US markets at 22:00 GMT. The peak time for trading is when the London and US markets overlap from 13:00 GMT until 16:00 GMT. The main sessions of the day are the London, US and Asian markets. Some currencies are more active during particular trading sessions than others and understanding this will allow traders to make the most of the market.