Finance

Forex trading hours are the hours of the opening and closing of the largest market in the world – the foreign exchange market. Forex trading hours overlap each other in various countries around the globe, and one can say that Forex is always open. However, in reality it is not completely so. Forex market is indeed always open, but not everywhere at the same time. As well as, some trading hours are better for trades than others. Forex opening and closing hours depend on the opening and the closing hours of the main financial institutions of various countries.

There are 4 main time zones with different Forex trading hours: USA, Europe, Asia and Australia. For example, Forex opens in Tokyo on Sunday at 23.00 GMT. Tokyo is where the Forex trading week starts. The trading week closes in Chicago at 10 PM on Friday.

Forex market is open at the time of major holidays just as well. However, of course, it’s not open in the country where the holiday is celebrated. For example, at the time of a major Christian holiday you can still get foreign currency quotes from the banks of Asian and Muslim countries, and the other way around. Thus, if you feel like trading, you will not have to wait for the holiday to pass in your country; you would just trade with others. It never happens that one holiday would happen in all of the countries all over the world at the same time.

Probably, the only uncomfortable time for your trades is weekends. Even though you can trade on the weekends, the volume of the transactions will be so thin, that you may risk not being able to find a counterpart for your transaction.

Forex is an international currency exchange. This market is continuously working, just like a hive, with zillions of transactions, selling and buying different currencies – Euro, US Dollars, Pounds, Yens, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars. You will be able to freely trade on the Forex market within the Forex trading hours.

Forex trading hours are believed to also be present for one simple reason – the employees of various institutions need some time to take care of matters. Frankly speaking, Forex traders probably also need to “relax and get some rest” every once in a while.

Some people ask, why is it that Forex trading hours fall at night in their countries? Well, the reason behind that is that when it is night in one country, it is a daytime in another country. At the time when one country “goes to sleep”, financial institutions in another country are just starting to open.

Forex trading hours in the main 4 timezones

Forex trading hours of various countries overlap one another, together totaling 24 hours each day for 5 days in the row. Thinner trades are also carried out on the weekends. Please take a look at the 4 main time-zones of the Forex trading hours (EST):

Tokyo Trading Hours: 19.00 to 04.00

New York Trading Hours: 08.00 to 17.00

London Trading Hours: 3.00 to 12.00 (noon)

Sydney, Trading Hours: 17.00 to 02.00 EST

A trader should get familiar with Forex trading hours, since Forex trading hours are often important to know, in order to gain reliable profits in transactions, rather than getting stuck in thin trades.