Forex market hours—What time does the Forex market open?

• Unlike the stock market, the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week.
• The market generally opens on a Sunday at 10 pm (GMT +1) and closes on Friday at 10 pm (GMT +1)
• The Forex market trading sessions follow the time zones of four major capitals: Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York.
• During a full 24-hour day of trading, most of these sessions will overlap with each other, thus increasing trading volume for those specific sessions as more participants enter the market.
• The London and New York sessions generally have the biggest trading volume, accounting for more than half of all trading activity.

As the most liquid financial market, the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, opening at 10 pm (GMT +1) on Sunday and ending at 10 pm (GMT+1) on Friday. However, it is closed on weekends when all the world’s central banks are also closed.

The Forex trading sessions stretch across four regions around the world, these are:

• Sydney (Sydney session)
• Tokyo (Asian session)
• London (European session)
• New York (North American session)

At least one of these sessions will be open at any time of the day, with specific sessions overlapping each other as the day progresses.

The Forex market doesn’t have a centralised exchange, meaning all trading takes place electronically online through a network of computers between retail brokers and traders, central banks, commercial banks, trading institutions, and commercial businesses.

Another aspect of not having a centralised exchange corresponds with the hours the market is open, allowing Forex trading to be done 24 hours a day, five days a week. 

Forex market trading hours follow the time zones of four major capitals: Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. 

These four capitals are also the different trading sessions that traders monitor when they want to participate in the Forex market. 

That said, the market has three peak trading sessions, during which the highest level of activity generally occurs. These are the Tokyo (Asian) session, London (European) session, and New York (North American) session, accounting for 75% of the daily trading volume.

The Sydney session, which involves traders from New Zealand and Australia, doesn’t see the same amount of daily trading volume as the other three sessions.

The Forex market opening times are the same every day: the Sydney session starts, then moves to the Tokyo session, then the London session, and ends with the New York session. 

Most of these sessions overlap, which increases trading volume as more participants enter the market. The only time when there is a decrease is at the end of the New York session, which is also the start of the Sydney session; however, they don’t overlap.

Below is a table indicating the exact opening and closing times for each session in different time zones:

• Sydney:
• Opening and closing times (GMT +1): 10:00 pm - 07:00 am
• Opening and closing times (UTC): 09:00 pm - 06:00 am 
• Tokyo:
• Opening and closing times (GMT +1): 01:00 am - 10:00 am
• Opening and closing times (UTC): 12:00 am - 09:00 am 
• London:
• Opening and closing times (GMT +1): 08:00 am - 05:00 pm
• Opening and closing times (UTC): 07:00 am - 04:00 pm
• New York:
• Opening and closing times (GMT +1): 1:00 pm - 10:00 pm
• Opening and closing times (UTC): 12:00 pm - 09:00 pm

These different Forex trading sessions are structured by following each country’s regular business hours.

In the following sections, we’ll look at the three major trading sessions in more detail.

Asian Forex trading session (Tokyo)

When liquidity returns to the Forex market at the beginning of the week, the Sydney session is the first to see price movements. However, when the Asian session opens, there is a bigger increase in trading volume because these two markets overlap, increasing the number of participants. 

There is only a three-hour gap between the opening of the Sydney session and the opening of the Asian session.

The increase in trading volume is due to the presence of many other major countries, including New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, throughout these two sessions. 

During the overlapping of these two sessions, traders will generally see more price movements in currencies specific to some of those countries, such as AUD/USD, NZD/USD, USD/JPY, USD/SGD, AUD/JPY, and NZD/JPY.

European Forex trading session (London)

Just before the Asian session ends, the European (London) session opens, seeing an increase in trading volume from participants such as various retail traders, retail brokers, banks, trading institutions, and commercial businesses across Europe and Africa entering the market.

The London session is also the only session that overlaps with two other sessions, the Asian session and the New York session.

During this trading session, traders will generally also be able to see an increase in the price movement of various currencies associated with the countries participating in the Forex market, such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, EUR/GBP, and EUR/ZAR.

North American Forex trading session (New York)

As the London session reaches its halfway point, the New York session opens, which arguably brings the biggest increase in trading volume to the Forex market. Contributions come not just from the United States but also from Canada, Mexico, and South America.

During this session, traders are generally able to see an increase in the price movements of all major currency pairs, such as the AUD/USD, EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, NZD/USD, USD/JPY, and USD/CAD.

There will also be an increase in the price movement of certain exotic currency pairs, such as USD/MXN (the US Dollar against the Mexican Peso) and USD/ZAR (the US Dollar against the South African Rand).

At least one trading session is always open during the week. However, some of these sessions will have times when the market is quiet, with little trading activity compared to other sessions or when markets overlap.

As previously mentioned, the increase in trading volume when markets overlap is due to more participants entering the Forex market with the start of a new trading session while the current trading session is still active. For instance, when the London session opens and participants enter the market, they join all the participants already active in the Tokyo session.

Theoretically, the most popular times to trade in the Forex market are during times of increased trading volume, which means that a large number of participants are buying and selling currencies. 

As a result, the liquidity of traded currency pairs will increase, allowing traders to enter and exit positions quicker, with the added advantage of narrower spreads.

Apart from the increased trading volume and liquidity, volatility might also increase, which could be caused by certain important news and economic releases. Some traders might see this as a more advantageous trading opportunity.

When it comes to the specific market trading hours, most traders might find the moment when the London session overlaps with the New York session the most favourable due to the increased trading volume and liquidity, seeing as these two financial centres account for more than half of all trading activity.

Now, it might also be essential to note that there are certain days in the week when trading volume, liquidity, and volatility are higher than on other days. For example, trading in the middle of the week on Tuesday and Wednesday could see higher trading volumes compared to Fridays, which offer less trading volume.

Apart from the specific trading days, the level of trading volume and liquidity might also differ depending on the currency a trader is looking to trade. For example, USD/JPY might be more advantageous during the Asian (Tokyo) session.

Knowing what times the Forex market opens could be an essential part of a trader’s Forex trading plan and the currency pair/s they might want to trade. 

For instance, let’s say a trader’s strategy involves looking at three different currency pairs: USD/JPY, EUR/USD, and GBP/USD. They could trade the USD/JPY pair when the Tokyo or New York session is open and the EUR/USD and GBP/USD pair when the London session opens or when the London session overlaps with the New York session.

Throughout a trading day, many opportunities and moments of increased volatility could present themselves. Deciding which times would be best for a trader to look for potential trading opportunities while sticking to their strategy might be crucial. 

Another factor that could come into play is the country where a trader might be situated. For example, it might be difficult for someone in Hong Kong to trade the New York session because of the time difference.

In the previous sections, we mentioned that when markets overlap, trading volume, liquidity, and volatility could increase compared to times when only one market is open. 

However, to provide you with a clearer picture of the difference in trading volume between sessions, we’ve compiled a list displaying the average pip movements for all major currency pairs between each of the three major sessions: Tokyo, London, and New York.

• NZD/USD:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 62
• Average pip movement during the London session: 72
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 70
•  AUD/USD:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 77
• Average pip movement during the London session: 83
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 81
•  USD/JPY:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 51
• Average pip movement during the London session: 66
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 59
•  EUR/USD:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 76
• Average pip movement during the London session: 114
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 92
•  GBP/USD:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 92
• Average pip movement during the London session: 127
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 99
•  USD/CHF:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 67
• Average pip movement during the London session: 102
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 83
•  USD/CAD:
• Average pip movement during the Tokyo session: 57
• Average pip movement during the London session: 96
• Average pip movement during the New York session: 96 

This is just a brief overview, as there are many different Forex currency pairs to choose from, each with its own average pip movements during these three sessions. Choosing which currency pairs a trader might want to trade will be a personal choice, combined with their unique trading style and strategy.

The opening and closing times of the Forex market will change when certain countries move over to daylight saving time (DST). These include the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. When that happens, the market will open one hour earlier during the London and New York sessions and one hour later for the Sydney session.

It might be worth noting that the months Sydney moves over to daylight savings time differ from the months London and New York move over to daylight savings time because Australia is situated in the Southern Hemisphere; its summer and winter months are different.

On the other hand, Japan doesn’t experience daylight savings, which means the opening and closing times for the Tokyo session will remain the same even when the other regions have moved over to daylight saving time.

Below is a breakdown of when the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia move to daylight saving time.

• New York will generally adopt daylight saving time during the summer months. This starts on the second Sunday in March, and sunrise and sunset will be one hour earlier. It will continue until the first Sunday in November.
• London will generally switch to daylight saving time during the summer months. This starts on the last Sunday in March, when sunrise and sunset will be one hour earlier, and it will continue until the last Sunday in October.
• Sydney is a bit different because it’s situated in the Southern Hemisphere, which means its summer and winter months are different. Daylight savings will start at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in October and last until 3 a.m. on the first Sunday in April. Compared to London and New York, sunrise and sunset will be one hour later instead of one hour earlier.