Forex market is available for trading 24 hours a day (five and one-half days per week). It provides a great opportunity for traders to trade any time of the day or at night. Before looking at the best times to trade, we must look at what a 24-hour day in the forex world looks like.
Summer
| Time Zone | EDT | GMT |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Open Sydney Close |
6:00 PM 3:00 AM |
10:00 PM 7:00 AM |
| Tokyo Open Tokyo Close |
7:00 PM 4:00 AM |
11:00 PM 8:00 AM |
| London Open London Close |
3:00 AM 12:00 PM |
8:00 AM 5:00 PM |
| New York Open New York Close |
8:00 AM 5:00 PM |
12:00 PM 9:00 PM |
Winter
| Time Zone | EST | GMT |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Open Sydney Close |
4:00 PM 1:00 AM |
9:00 PM 6:00 AM |
| Tokyo Open Tokyo Close |
6:00 PM 3:00 AM |
11:00 PM 8:00 AM |
| London Open London Close |
3:00 AM 12:00 PM |
7:00 AM 4:00 PM |
| New York Open New York Close |
8:00 AM 5:00 PM |
1:00 PM 10:00 PM |
You can see that in between each session, there is a period of time where two sessions are open at the same time. From 3:00-4:00 am EDT, the Tokyo session and London session overlap, and from 8:00-12:00 am EDT, the London session and the New York session overlap.
Average pip movement of the major currency pairs during each trading session.
| Pair | Tokyo | London | New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
From the table, you will see that the European session normally provides the most movement. Trading volume and volatility change for different currency pairs depend on the movement of the clock hands. You can trade more effectively, if you know which currency pairs are in the spotlight at any given time. Timing plays big role in currency trading.
Credit:
Image http://www.stocktime.ru/en/index.html
table: http://www.babypips.com/school/trading-sessions.html