Forex Market Hours: Sessions, Overlaps, and the Best Times to Trade

The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, because trading moves around the globe from one financial centre to the next. It opens on Sunday evening UTC when Sydney comes online and closes on Friday evening UTC when New York shuts. But not every hour is equal: liquidity, spreads, and volatility change dramatically depending on which session is active.

This guide explains the four trading sessions, when they open and close in UTC, where they overlap, and the best times to trade.

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Why forex trades 24 hours

There is no single central exchange for forex. It trades over the counter between banks and brokers worldwide, so as one financial centre closes, another opens. Trading passes from Sydney to Tokyo to London to New York and then back to Sydney, keeping the market continuously open through the weekday.

That continuity is why forex suits traders in any timezone, but it also means the character of the market changes hour to hour. Knowing which session is active tells you what to expect from spreads and volatility.

Thinking about using this on a funded account? Before you do, read the best prop firms for forex traders, how a static maximum drawdown works and why traders fail prop challenges.

The four trading sessions

Approximate session times in UTC (they shift by an hour with daylight saving in each region):

London is the single most active session because it overlaps the tail of Asia and the start of the US day, and because it handles the largest share of global FX volume.

The overlaps that matter

The busiest, most tradable windows are where two sessions are open at once:

• London and New York (about 13:00 to 17:00 UTC). The most liquid window of the day. Spreads are tightest, moves are cleanest, and most scheduled US data lands here. If you trade only one window, trade this one.
• Tokyo and London (about 08:00 to 09:00 UTC). A shorter overlap that can bring a burst of activity as Europe comes online.

Outside the overlaps, especially the late Asian session, liquidity thins and spreads widen, so intraday moves can be choppier and less reliable.

When does the forex market open and close?

The trading week opens on Sunday around 21:00 UTC as Sydney begins, and closes on Friday around 21:00 UTC when New York finishes. Over the weekend the market is closed to retail trading, though prices can gap when it reopens if major news broke while it was shut.

Exact open and close times vary slightly by broker and shift with daylight saving. On a Velotrade funded forex account, currency pairs trade from Sunday 21:05 UTC to Friday 20:55 UTC, with a roughly two-minute halt near 21:00 UTC on weekday rollovers.

What is the best time to trade forex?

For most traders, the best time to trade forex is the London and New York overlap, from 8:00am to 12:00pm Eastern Time (13:00 to 17:00 UTC in winter, 12:00 to 16:00 UTC in summer). The two largest FX centres are open at the same time: in the BIS 2022 Triennial Survey, the United Kingdom handled 38% of global FX turnover and the United States 19%. Liquidity is deepest and spreads on the major pairs are usually tightest in this window.

Winter here means US Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) and UK GMT; summer means US Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) and UK BST. The US moves its clocks on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, while the UK moves on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. For two to three weeks around each change, the overlap starts an hour earlier or later in UTC than the table shows, so check the clock change dates if you trade from outside the US or UK. The live market sessions clock applies these changes for you and shows each session in your own time zone.

• For liquidity and tight spreads: the London and New York overlap (8:00am to 12:00pm ET).
• For major moves: around scheduled US releases (FOMC, CPI, non-farm payrolls), which land during the US session. See what is FOMC trading and what is NFP trading.
• To avoid: the thin late-Asian hours and the minutes right around a major data release if you do not have a trading plan for it, spreads widen and slippage rises.

The best window also depends on the pair: EURUSD and GBPUSD are most active in the London and New York sessions, while JPY and AUD pairs see more action during Asia. If you plan to trade these sessions intraday, our guide to day trading for beginners covers the basics and five starter strategies. Session opens are also where traders watch for reversal candlestick patterns, such as an engulfing bar at the prior session's high or low.

ICT traders call the busiest windows of these sessions kill zones. Our ICT trading guide lists the times and how traders use them.

Overnight financing and weekends

Holding a forex position past the daily rollover incurs an overnight financing charge (a swap). On a Velotrade funded account this is 0.05% of notional per night, applied at the 21:00 UTC rollover on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with a triple charge on Wednesday to cover the weekend, in line with forex market convention. Weekend holding is permitted, and positions carry through to the Sunday reopen. For how these costs fit the bigger picture, see how to trade forex.

Velotrade offers forex alongside crypto, indices, commodities, and stocks on one DXtrade funded account, with static maximum drawdown, no consistency rule, and news trading permitted. To compare firms for forex, see best prop firm for forex. Velotrade is unregulated and offers educational, simulated evaluations with real-time market pricing.

Related reading: 24/7 Prop Trading.

Sources

• OANDA, "When is the best time for forex trading?": session times in ET, the 8:00am to 12:00pm ET London and New York overlap, and daylight saving adjustments.
• Bank for International Settlements, Triennial Central Bank Survey 2022: OTC foreign exchange turnover: the United Kingdom accounted for 38% and the United States 19% of global FX turnover in April 2022.