ForexTradingSessions

whatforexis,whyyoushouldtradeit,andwhomakes
uptheforexmarket,itsabouttimeyoulearnedwhenyoucantrade.
Nowthatyouknow

Itstimetoleanaboutthedifferentforextradingsessions.
Yes,itistruethattheforexmarketisopen24hoursaday,butthatdoesntmeanitsalways
activethewholeday.
Youcanmakemoneytradingwhenthemarketmovesup,andyoucanevenmakemoney
whenthemarketmovesdown.
BUTyouwillhaveaverydifficulttimetryingtomakemoneywhenthemarketdoesntmoveat
all.
Andbelieveus,therewillbetimeswhenthemarketisasstillasthevictimsofMedusa.This
lessonwillhelpdeterminewhenthebesttimesofthedayaretotrade.

ForexMarketHours
Beforelookingatthebesttimestotrade,wemustlookatwhata24hour
dayintheforexworldlookslike.
Theforexmarketcanbebrokenupintofourmajortradingsessions:the
Sydneysession,theTokyosession,theLondonsession,andPipcrawlers
favoritetimetotrade,theNewYorksession.Belowaretablesoftheopen
andclosetimesforeachsession:
Summer(approx.AprilOctober)

TimeZone

EDT

GMT

SydneyOpen

6:00PM

10:00PM

SydneyClose

3:00AM

7:00AM

TokyoOpen

7:00PM

11:00PM

TokyoClose

4:00AM

8:00AM

LondonOpen

3:00AM

7:00AM

LondonClose

12:00
PM

4:00PM

NewYork
Open

8:00AM

12:00PM

NewYork
Close

5:00PM

9:00PM

Winter(approx.OctoberApril)

TimeZone

EST

GMT

SydneyOpen

4:00PM

9:00PM

SydneyClose

1:00AM

6:00AM

TokyoOpen

6:00PM

11:00PM

TokyoClose

3:00AM

8:00AM

LondonOpen

3:00AM

8:00AM

LondonClose

12:00PM

5:00PM

NewYorkOpen

8:00AM

1:00PM

NewYorkClose

5:00PM

10:00PM

Actualopenandclosetimesarebasedonlocalbusinesshours.Thisvariesduringthemonths
ofOctoberandAprilassomecountriesshiftto/fromdaylightsavingstime(DST).Theday
withineachmonththatacountrymayshiftto/fromDSTalsovaries.
Youcanseethatinbetweeneachforextradingsession,thereisaperiodoftimewheretwo
sessionsareopenatthesametime.Duringthesummer,from3:004:00amEDT,theTokyo
sessionandLondonsessionoverlap,andduringbothsummerandwinterfrom8:00am12:00
pmET,theLondonsessionandtheNewYorksessionoverlap.
Naturally,thesearethebusiesttimesduringthetradingdaybecausethereismorevolume
whentwomarketsareopenatthesametime.Thismakessensebecauseduringthosetimes,
allthemarketparticipantsarewheelinanddealin,whichmeansthatmoremoneyis
transferringhands.
Now,youreprobablylookingattheSydneyopenandthinkingwhyitshiftstwohours.Youd
thinkthatSydneysopenwouldonlymoveonehourwhentheU.S.adjustsforstandardtime,
butrememberthatwhentheU.S.shiftsonehourback,Sydneyactuallymovesforwardbyone
hour(seasonsareoppositeinAustralia).Youshouldalwaysrememberthisifyoueverplanto
tradeduringthattimeperiod.
Letstakealookattheaveragepipmovementofthemajorcurrencypairsduringeachforex
tradingsession.

Pair

Tokyo

London

NewYork

EUR/USD

76

114

92

GBP/USD

92

127

99

USD/JPY

51

66

59

AUD/USD

77

83

81

NZD/USD

62

72

70

USD/CAD

57

96

96

USD/CHF

67

102

83

EUR/JPY

102

129

107

GBP/JPY

118

151

132

AUD/JPY

98

107

103

EUR/GBP

78

61

47

EUR/CHF

79

109

84

Fromthetable,youwillseethattheEuropeansessionnormallyprovidesthemostmovement.
Letstakeamoreindepthlookateachofthesession,aswellasthoseperiodswhenthe
sessionsoverlap.