Forex market hours (UK time)

Quick answer: The forex market is open 24 hours a day from about 22:00 UK time on Sunday to 22:00 on Friday. It passes through four sessions: Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. The busiest window is usually the London–New York overlap, about 13:00 to 17:00 UK time. Spreads often widen around the 22:00 rollover.

The four sessions in UK time

A trading session is the working day of one big financial centre. They overlap, so the market never really sleeps between Sunday night and Friday night.

Session times vary a little between sources, so treat them as approximate. Each session keeps its own local hours (London 08:00 to 17:00, New York 08:00 to 17:00 local time); it is the UK clock that sees them move.

• Sydney opens the week. It is the quietest session for most pairs, livelier for AUD and NZD.
• Tokyo brings the yen and Asian data. Yen pairs and AUD pairs are most active here.
• London is the largest centre. Spreads on the major pairs usually tighten at the London open.
• New York brings US data and the US dollar's home market. Its first half overlaps with London; its second half is calmer.

The London–New York overlap

From about 13:00 to 17:00 UK time both of the biggest centres are open at once. That is usually when liquidity is deepest and spreads on the major pairs are tightest. It is also when many US data releases land, such as non-farm payrolls at 13:30 UK time, so prices can move fast.

Weekend close and weekend gaps

The trading week runs from 5 p.m. New York time on Sunday to 5 p.m. New York time on Friday. For most of the year that is about 22:00 UK time on both days. Between Friday's close and Sunday's open, news still happens but prices do not update, so the market can reopen at a different price. A stop loss cannot fill inside that gap; it fills at the first available price.

Daylight saving: when the times shift

• UK: clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October.
• US: forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November.
• Sydney: the opposite season, forward on the first Sunday in October and back on the first Sunday in April.
• Tokyo: no daylight saving.

Because the UK and US change on different dates, for two or three weeks in March and about a week around the end of October, New York is only four hours behind London instead of five. In those weeks the New York session, the 22:00 rollover and US data all arrive an hour earlier on a UK clock: payrolls at 12:30, rollover at 21:00.

Rollover: why spreads widen around 22:00

Every weekday at 5 p.m. New York time, about 22:00 UK time, open positions roll to the next day and are charged or paid swap. New York has closed and Asia has barely started, so liquidity is thin. Spreads can widen several times over for a few minutes or more, which can trigger stops placed close to the price. Short-term traders often step back from the hour around it.

How the clock works

The session clock above takes approximate session hours in UTC (Sydney 21:00 to 06:00, Tokyo 00:00 to 09:00, London 07:00 to 16:00 and New York 12:00 to 21:00 in the northern summer) and converts them to your device's time zone. For example, London's 07:00 UTC open shows as 08:00 on a UK clock in summer, because BST is UTC + 1. The heat map adds up how many big sessions are open each hour and how much each pair trades in each, so the overlap scores highest.

Common mistakes

• Trading the open of Sunday night. The first hour of the week is thin, with wide spreads and sometimes a gap from Friday's close.
• Forgetting the March and October shifts. For a few weeks US data comes an hour earlier on a UK clock. Check your economic calendar's time zone.
• Leaving tight stops through rollover. A brief spread spike at 22:00 can close a trade that the chart price never reached.

Learn more

• Academy lesson: market sessions
• Academy lesson: bid, ask and the spread
• Academy lesson: trading the news
• Forex market hours: sessions, overlaps and best times
• How to read an economic calendar
• What is swap in forex? Rollover and overnight fees explained

Related tools: swap calculator and trading cost calculator. See all tools.