Trading session

Forex has no central exchange, so it trades around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday evening (New York time), following business hours across the world's financial centres. Traders divide the day into sessions:

• Sydney: opens the week; generally quiet, with the Australian and New Zealand dollars most active.
• Tokyo (Asian session): yen pairs and Asia-Pacific currencies tend to be busiest.
• London (European session): the largest centre for forex trading; spreads in the major pairs are usually at their tightest and volumes highest.
• New York: US data releases mostly come out at 08:30 New York time, and the dollar is in focus.

The London and New York overlap, roughly 08:00 to 12:00 New York time (13:00 to 17:00 UK time most of the year), is typically the most active part of the day for the major pairs.

Example

Illustrative figures: a trader in Frankfurt (CET) wants to trade during the overlap. In winter, 13:00 to 17:00 UK time is 14:00 to 18:00 in Frankfurt. For a few weeks in March and late October to early November, the US and Europe change clocks on different dates, so the overlap shifts by an hour. The market hours tool shows the sessions live in your own time zone.

Practical notes

• Session times are conventions; activity fades in and out rather than switching on and off.
• The daily rollover at 17:00 New York time is usually the thinnest moment, and spreads often widen.
• Weekend gaps happen because news continues while the market is shut.
• A pair can be quiet in one session and very active in another, so a strategy tested in London hours may behave differently in Asian hours.

See forex market hours and sessions.