It is relatively simple to choose the time you want to trade on the stock exchange. The market is open for a few hours and closed on weekends. You have a limited amount of time to determine which trades you want to review and which positions you want to take. With the forex market, it is a little different. The Forex market is permanently open throughout the trading week, which means you can trade at any time of the day. For novice traders, this can be quite challenging as they do not want to miss a huge opportunity, but at the same time, they need to sleep like the rest of us.
There are a few things you will want to consider about time zones in the forex market that will be useful to those who trade in FX. From opening hours of various markets to the best times to trade, you will find important information about the forex market below.
forex market hours
The first thing you need to know about the different forex markets you can trade on is their opening hours. Speaking in Eastern Standard Time (EST), here are the major forex markets and the times they are open for trading. New York is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST) and ranks second on the list of the largest forex markets. The US dollar accounts for about 90% of all transactions in this market, which attracts a lot of attention from around the world. If there was a major move in the stock market, it would have a big impact on the dollar, and people would look to the currency to drive through the forex market.
Tokyo is open from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. (EST) and is the biggest player in terms of business in Asia. When the Japanese market is only one open, several currency pairs attract a lot of attention, including USD/JPY, GBP/JPY and GBP/USD. Bank of Japan is known to strongly influence the market. This is why people like to keep an eye on the Japanese markets to find opportunities for various Japanese currency pairs in the Forex market.
Sydney Market is open from 5 PM to 2 PM Eastern Time and ranks last on the list of the largest markets. People flock to the Australian market on Sundays around noon because financial institutions and traders like to get together and start the new week. A lot of action takes place during this period, which means more volatility and many more opportunities to capitalize on the Forex market.
The London market is open from 3am to 3pm. London plays an important role in the activities of the foreign exchange market, thanks to institutions such as the Bank of England and central banks headquartered in London. These banks control the interest rates which greatly affect the value of currencies around the world. Trends that appear in the forex market often begin in London, which attracts a lot of attention in this market, as traders look for the next trend to move so that they can play as quickly as possible for maximum profit.
best time to trade forex
Simply put, the best time to trade the Forex market is when the market is most active. In fact, the market is the most volatile and the most important is the price variation of currency pairs. This opens up increased opportunities for trades with higher returns. In general, the forex market is open from 5 PM EST on Sundays and closes at 5 PM the following Friday.
Different markets around the world open and close at different times, resulting in overlapping when two markets open at the same time. It is during these overlaps that the market will be most active and therefore the best time to trade. Prices will fluctuate the most during these times, which means there will be more chances to play games with higher potential payouts.
There are three important overlaps during each trading day that you should be aware of. The first is between the London market and the United States market, between 8 a.m. and noon. The second is between Sydney Market and Tokyo Market, between 2am and 4pm (EST). The final overlap between the major markets is London and Tokyo, between 3 and 4 p.m. Eastern Time. These times are considered to be the best times to trade the forex market, as this is the time when the market sees the most activity. Successful traders focus on these time slots to complete a large number of trades.
