Forex Market Hours
Live status for all four forex sessions. See what is open right now, when they overlap, and the best pairs to trade this hour.
What Are Forex Market Hours?
The forex market runs 24 hours a day from Sunday evening to Friday evening UTC, split across four regional sessions: Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. It has no central exchange, so as one financial centre closes another opens, and trading passes around the world without a daily bell. The market is closed over the weekend. Which session is open determines how much volume is behind a pair and how wide its spread is likely to be.
Forex Session Hours in UTC
The four sessions and the hours they cover in UTC on the current date. Each session follows local business hours in its own city, so its UTC times move by an hour when that city changes to or from daylight saving: London and New York in spring and autumn, on different dates, and Sydney in October and April. Tokyo does not use daylight saving. The times you see in your own time zone can shift by an hour around those dates as well.
| Session | Opens (UTC) | Closes (UTC) | Most active pairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 20:00 | 05:00 | AUD/USD, NZD/USD, AUD/JPY, AUD/NZD |
| Tokyo | 00:00 | 09:00 | USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, AUD/JPY |
| London | 08:00 | 17:00 | EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/GBP, USD/CHF |
| New York | 13:00 | 22:00 | EUR/USD, USD/CAD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY |
Session Overlaps: Peak Trading Hours
Sessions overlap where two financial centres are open at once. Overlaps concentrate volume, which usually means tighter spreads and faster movement than the same pair sees in a single-session hour.
Tokyo-London (08:00-09:00 UTC)
Moderate volatility, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY see action
London-New York (13:00-17:00 UTC)
Highest volume of the day, best for EUR/USD, GBP/USD
Sydney-Tokyo (00:00-05:00 UTC)
Quieter, good for AUD/JPY, NZD/JPY range trading
When Is the Best Time to Trade Forex?
For the major pairs, the London-New York overlap (12:00 to 16:00 UTC while both cities are on summer time, 13:00 to 17:00 UTC while both are on standard time) carries the most volume of the day, and it is where EUR/USD and GBP/USD are typically most liquid. The Tokyo session suits yen crosses, and the Sydney session is the quietest of the four. Best is relative to what you trade: a pair is most active when its own currencies' home sessions are open, so AUD/USD behaves differently at 02:00 UTC than EUR/USD does.
Why Session Timing Affects Spreads and Slippage
Spreads reflect how many participants are quoting a pair at that moment. In a thin hour there are fewer of them, so the gap between bid and ask widens and an order is more likely to fill away from the price you saw. The same stop-loss distance therefore carries different real risk at 03:00 UTC than at 14:00 UTC, and the same trade idea can cost noticeably more to enter and exit outside its pair's active window.
Session Timing on a Challenge Account
Prop firm evaluation accounts are simulated trading accounts, and they typically apply a maximum daily loss and a maximum total loss measured against a reference balance. The exact limits and how they are measured differ from firm to firm, so confirm them with the firm you trade with. The time the daily counter resets differs by firm and may fall inside the Sydney session rather than at a natural break in your own trading day. Trading a thin, wide-spread hour uses more of that allowance for the same nominal move, which is the practical reason session timing matters on an evaluation.
This section is educational information about how loss limits and session liquidity interact on a simulated evaluation account. It is not financial advice and not a recommendation to trade or avoid any session.
Forex Market Hours FAQ
What time does the forex market open and close?
The trading week opens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time, when it is already Monday morning in Sydney, and closes on Friday at 17:00 New York time, at the end of the New York session. That is 21:00 UTC while the US is on daylight saving time (from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November) and 22:00 UTC the rest of the year. Between those points the market runs continuously, with no daily open or close, because the four regional sessions hand over to each other around the clock.
Is the forex market open right now?
The clock at the top of this page shows live status for all four sessions, including which are open, which overlap, and how long until the next open or close. As a rule the market is open from 17:00 New York time on Sunday to 17:00 New York time on Friday, which is 21:00 UTC during US daylight saving time and 22:00 UTC otherwise, and closed across the weekend.
What are the four forex trading sessions?
Sydney (07:00 to 16:00 Sydney time), Tokyo (09:00 to 18:00 Tokyo time), London (08:00 to 17:00 London time) and New York (08:00 to 17:00 New York time). Each is named for the financial centre that anchors it, and each tends to be most active in the currencies of its own region. Because the hours are local, their UTC times move with daylight saving: London is 07:00 to 16:00 UTC during UK summer time and 08:00 to 17:00 UTC otherwise, New York 12:00 to 21:00 UTC during US daylight saving time and 13:00 to 22:00 UTC otherwise, Sydney 20:00 to 05:00 UTC during Australian daylight saving time (October to April) and 21:00 to 06:00 UTC otherwise, and Tokyo 00:00 to 09:00 UTC all year.
Which forex session has the most volume?
London is the largest of the four by volume, and the London-New York overlap, from the New York open at 08:00 New York time to the London close at 17:00 London time, is the busiest window of the day because the two largest centres are open at the same time. That is 12:00 to 16:00 UTC while both cities are on summer time and 13:00 to 17:00 UTC while both are on standard time. That window is where the major pairs are usually most liquid.
What is a session overlap and why does it matter?
An overlap is any period where two sessions are open at once. More participants are quoting during an overlap, so spreads are typically tighter and price tends to move faster. The three overlaps are Sydney-Tokyo, Tokyo-London, and London-New York.
Do forex market hours change with daylight saving?
Yes. Each session follows local business hours in its own city, so its UTC times move by an hour when that city changes to or from daylight saving. London and New York make the change on different dates in March and in October or November, so for a few weeks each year their overlap runs an hour longer than usual. Sydney changes in October and April, in the opposite direction, and Tokyo does not change at all. The times you see in your own time zone can shift as well, which is why the table above shows the UTC times for the current date.
Can you trade forex on weekends?
The spot forex market is closed from 17:00 New York time on Friday to 17:00 New York time on Sunday: 21:00 UTC Friday to 21:00 UTC Sunday during US daylight saving time, and 22:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC the rest of the year. Positions cannot be opened or closed in that window. Prices can gap between the Friday close and the Sunday open when news breaks over the weekend, which affects any position held through it.
Does session timing affect a prop firm challenge?
Indirectly, through liquidity rather than through any rule about the clock. Wider spreads and slippage in thin hours mean the same trade size consumes more of a daily loss allowance than it would in an active session. Confirm the rules that apply to your own account, including the daily reset time, before planning a session routine around them.
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