The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, but it is not equally busy all the time. This live clock shows which trading sessions are open right now, in your own time zone, and when the busiest hours of the day start.
Forex Market Hours
Which trading sessions are open now, in your own time zone.
Session times are the usual trading hours of each financial centre, adjusted for daylight saving time. Liquidity, and the hours your broker offers, can differ around holidays.
The Four Forex Sessions
Forex has no central exchange. Instead, trading follows the business day around the world’s financial centres:
- Sydney – opens the trading week, usually quiet.
- Tokyo – the main Asian session, busiest for the yen and the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
- London – the largest forex centre, handling the biggest share of global trading.
- New York – the second largest, and home to many US economic releases.
The market opens on Sunday evening (5 pm New York time) and closes on Friday at 5 pm New York time.
How To Use The Market Hours Clock
The clock shows the times in your own time zone automatically. To see them in another time zone, choose it from the list.
The timeline shows today’s sessions as bars, with a red line for the current time. Darker bars are sessions that are open now. The green row marks the overlap between London and New York. The table lists when each session opens and closes next, and how long until it does.
Why It Matters To Traders
The busiest hours have the most trading, which usually means tighter spreads, faster fills and bigger price moves – what most day traders want. The London–New York overlap is typically the most active period of the day, especially for EUR/USD and GBP/USD.
Quiet hours, such as the late New York session, often bring wider spreads and slow, choppy prices. Trading pairs during their own region’s session – the yen in Tokyo hours, the euro and pound in London hours – tends to give better conditions.
Tips
- Daylight saving time shifts the sessions by an hour in spring and autumn, and the US, Europe and Australia change on different dates. The clock adjusts for this automatically.
- Spreads often widen just before and after the daily rollover at 5 pm New York time.
- Major news releases bring sharp moves in any session. Check an economic calendar before you trade.
- Your broker’s trading hours can differ slightly, especially around public holidays.
Related Trading Calculators
Alternatively, see our full suite of free online trading calculators.
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