The Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York sessions in UTC and New York time, for winter and summer, with the overlaps, the clock changes and when spreads are usually tightest.
Forex trades around the clock, from Monday morning in Sydney to Friday afternoon in New York. There is no central exchange. Banks and dealers in each financial centre quote prices during their working day, and as one centre closes, the next is already open.
Liquidity is uneven through the day. Spreads on the major pairs are usually lowest while London and New York are both open. They are usually widest in the hours after New York closes.
This guide gives session times in UTC with New York time beside them. The UTC times change when the clocks change, so there are two sets of times: one for the northern-hemisphere winter and one for summer.
When the forex week opens and closes
The week opens with Sydney on Monday morning, Sydney time, which is Sunday evening in UTC. It closes with New York at 17:00 New York time on Friday. That is about 120 hours of trading.
Most brokers open the week at about 17:00 New York time on Sunday. In UTC, the week usually runs from about 22:00 on Sunday to 22:00 on Friday in the northern winter, and from 21:00 to 21:00 in summer. Brokers set their own exact hours, and some instruments have daily breaks.
The four sessions
The sessions are named after Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. Their times are a convention based on office hours in each centre. There is no opening bell. The table uses 08:00 to 17:00 local time for Sydney, London and New York, and 09:00 to 18:00 for Tokyo.
Session | UTC, northern winter | UTC, northern summer | New York time, winter | New York time, summer | Most active currencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sydney | 21:00 to 06:00 | 22:00 to 07:00 | 16:00 to 01:00 | 18:00 to 03:00 | AUD, NZD |
Tokyo | 00:00 to 09:00 | 00:00 to 09:00 | 19:00 to 04:00 | 20:00 to 05:00 | JPY, AUD, NZD |
London | 08:00 to 17:00 | 07:00 to 16:00 | 03:00 to 12:00 | 03:00 to 12:00 | EUR, GBP, CHF |
New York | 13:00 to 22:00 | 12:00 to 21:00 | 08:00 to 17:00 | 08:00 to 17:00 | USD, CAD |
Winter times apply when London and New York are both on standard time, from the first Sunday of November to the second Sunday of March. Summer times apply when both are on daylight time, from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. Sydney changes its clocks in the opposite season and on its own dates; the Sydney row assumes it is on summer time during the northern winter. The weeks when the US and the UK are out of step are covered under clock changes below.
Sydney
Sydney is the quietest of the four sessions. Activity is mostly in Australian and New Zealand dollar pairs. Spreads on EUR/USD and GBP/USD are often wider than later in the day, especially just after the weekly open. In the northern winter, Sydney's working day starts about an hour before most brokers open the week, so on Mondays the session begins at the weekly open.
Tokyo
Tokyo brings more volume than Sydney, mostly in yen pairs such as USD/JPY, EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY. Japan does not use daylight saving time, so Tokyo hours stay at 00:00 to 09:00 UTC all year. Price ranges in Asian hours are often narrower than in London and New York hours.
London
London is the largest foreign exchange centre. The UK accounted for about 38% of global FX turnover in April 2025 (source: BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey).
Volume rises across most pairs when London opens, and euro, sterling and Swiss franc pairs are at their most active. Most euro area and UK economic data comes out in London hours. The high and low set in Asian hours are often tested soon after the London open.
London opens at 03:00 New York time in both winter and summer, because the UK and the US move their clocks by the same hour. Only the UTC time changes.
New York
New York trades all the US dollar pairs, and Canadian dollar pairs are most active here. The main US data releases, including the jobs report, consumer prices and retail sales, come out at 08:30 New York time. That is 13:30 UTC in winter and 12:30 UTC in summer. Federal Reserve decisions come at 14:00 New York time, which is 19:00 or 18:00 UTC, after London has closed.
Activity usually drops after the London close at 12:00 New York time and is low by mid-afternoon.
The London and New York overlap
From 08:00 to 12:00 New York time, London and New York are both open. That is 13:00 to 17:00 UTC in winter and 12:00 to 16:00 UTC in summer.
This is usually the most liquid part of the day. More banks and dealers are quoting, and more orders are coming in, so spreads on the major pairs are usually at their lowest. Prices also tend to move further in these hours than in Asian hours.
The 08:30 US releases fall inside the overlap. Spreads often widen for a short time just before and after a release, and prices can move several times their normal amount in a few seconds. A stop-loss in that moment fills at the next available price, which can be well past the stop.
The other overlaps
Sydney and Tokyo overlap from 00:00 UTC until Sydney closes, at 06:00 UTC in winter and 07:00 UTC in summer. AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY are the pairs most affected.
Tokyo and London overlap from the London open until 09:00 UTC. That is one hour in winter and two hours in summer. Yen crosses such as EUR/JPY can move as European traders react to overnight news from Asia.
Choosing hours for your trading style
The best hours depend on how you trade.
If you scalp or day trade, the London open and the London and New York overlap usually have the lowest spreads and the most movement. Short-term trades pay the spread often, so the hours with the lowest spreads matter most.
If you swing trade or hold positions for weeks, the hour matters less. Opening and closing in liquid hours can still lower the spread you pay, especially on less traded pairs. Weekend gaps matter more to you than intraday timing.
If you trade ranges, Asian hours are often quieter, with narrower ranges in yen and Australian dollar pairs. Those ranges often break when London opens.
If you run an automated system, test it with the spreads and slippage of the hours it will trade in. A system built on London-hours data can behave very differently in Asian hours.
Weekends and holidays
The market is closed from the New York close on Friday to the Sydney open on Monday. If there is significant news over the weekend, such as an election result or an emergency central-bank decision, the first price on Monday can be far from Friday's last price. A position held over the weekend is exposed to that gap, and a stop-loss will fill at the first available price.
Liquidity is also thin on public holidays in the main centres, such as Christmas and New Year. Spreads can be wider on those days, and brokers may shorten their hours.
Clock changes
Japan does not change its clocks. The other three centres do, on different dates:
- The US moves to daylight time on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November.
- The UK moves on the last Sunday of March and back on the last Sunday of October.
- Sydney moves to daylight time on the first Sunday of October and back on the first Sunday of April.
So for two to three weeks in March the US has changed its clocks and the UK has not, and for about a week from the end of October the UK has changed back and the US has not. In those weeks London opens at 04:00 New York time instead of 03:00, and the London and New York overlap is five hours long, from 12:00 to 17:00 UTC.
If you keep a note of each session in your own time zone, check it again after every clock change, both yours and theirs.
Trading hours at NAMH Global
On NAMH Global, forex trades from the Sydney open on Monday to the New York close on Friday, on MetaTrader 5. MT5 shows times in the trading server's time zone, which may not be yours. The trading hours for each symbol are in its MT5 specification. Our economic calendar lists the releases that move each session.
On the ECN account, EUR/USD spreads start at 0.0 pips, plus $5 per standard lot, round turn. These are the lowest spreads we quote, not averages. Spreads widen at the daily rollover and around major news.
NAMH Global Ltd is a company registered in Saint Lucia (No. 2024-00372). It is not licensed by a securities regulator. This article is general information, not advice.
CFDs use leverage. You can lose money quickly, and you can lose all of the money you deposit. Only trade with money you can afford to lose.
Forex market hours questions
What are the forex market hours?
Forex trades 24 hours a day from the Sydney open on Monday morning to the New York close at 17:00 New York time on Friday. In UTC the week usually runs from about 22:00 on Sunday to 22:00 on Friday in the northern winter, and an hour earlier at both ends in summer. Hours vary slightly between brokers, and liquidity is thinner around public holidays.
What time is the forex market most active?
The busiest hours are usually the London and New York overlap, 08:00 to 12:00 New York time. That is 13:00 to 17:00 UTC in the northern winter and 12:00 to 16:00 UTC in summer. Spreads on the major pairs are usually at their lowest then.
What are the four forex trading sessions?
They are Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York, named after the centres whose working day they follow. In the northern winter they run at about 21:00 to 06:00, 00:00 to 09:00, 08:00 to 17:00 and 13:00 to 22:00 UTC. In summer Sydney, London and New York each move one hour, and Tokyo stays the same.
Does daylight saving time affect forex trading hours?
Yes, the sessions move in UTC when the clocks change, because each one follows local office hours. London opens at 08:00 UTC in winter and 07:00 UTC in summer, and New York at 13:00 and 12:00 UTC. The US, the UK and Australia change on different dates, so for a few weeks a year the gaps between sessions are an hour different.
What is the best time to trade EUR/USD?
EUR/USD spreads are usually lowest during London hours, and lowest of all while London and New York are both open. That is 08:00 to 12:00 New York time: 13:00 to 17:00 UTC in winter and 12:00 to 16:00 UTC in summer. Those hours also carry most euro area and US data releases, when spreads can widen for a short time.
Can you trade forex 24 hours a day?
Yes, from the Sydney open on Monday to the New York close on Friday. Liquidity is uneven, though. In the hours after New York closes, and around the daily rollover, spreads are usually wider and prices move less.
Is the forex market open on weekends?
No. The market closes at the New York close on Friday and reopens with Sydney on Monday morning, Sydney time. News over the weekend can make the first price on Monday very different from Friday's last price, and stop-loss orders then fill at the first available price.
Which currency pairs are most active in the Tokyo session?
Yen pairs such as USD/JPY, EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY are usually the most active in Tokyo hours. AUD and NZD pairs are also active, because Sydney and Wellington are open at the same time as Tokyo.