As it is known the international Forex market works round the clock 5 days a week excluding the national holidays when the banks do not work. Due to this in each hour zone there are institutes buying and selling the currency during their working day, on Forex market there is no a daylight trading - there is a week one. Trading session opens at 23:00 GMT on Sunday in Tokyo, closes at 22:00 in Chicago.
Conditionally, on Forex market four regional markets are distinguished: Australia, Asia, Europe and America. In working days Forex moves sequentially in the following financial centers: Wellington New Zealand – Sydney Australia – Tokyo Japan – Hong Kong China – Singapore Singapore - Frankfurt am Main Germany – Zurich Switzerland – London Great Britain – New York, Chicago, Los Angeles the USA. The uniqueness of the trading sessions schedule lies in that it is based on an ideal geographic scheme: as soon as one continent sleeps another one wakes up and the trades go on.
Trading sessions on the international currency market work within the following time periods. (Moscow time).
REGION | CITY | SUMMER | WINTER |
New Zealand Australia |
Wellington Sydney |
00:00 – 08:00 01:00 – 09:00 |
00:00 – 8:00 01:00 – 09:00 |
Europe | Frankfurt Zurich Paris London |
09:00 – 17:00 09:00 – 17:00 09:00 – 17:00 10:00 – 18:00 |
09:00 – 17:00 09:00 – 17:00 09:00 – 17:00 10:00 – 18:00 |
Asia | Tokyo Singapore Hong Kong |
04:00 – 12:00 04:00 – 12:00 05:00 – 13:00 |
03:00 – 11:00 04:00 – 12:00 04:00 – 12:00 |
America | New York Chicago |
16:00 – 24:00 17:00 – 01:00 |
16:00 – 24:00 17:00 – 01:00 |
Practically, trading on the currency market does not stop even in weekends and holidays. So for example, during the New Year the trading can be run between the banks of Islamic countries for which the 1st of January is not a holiday. Off-the-record the market works even on holidays. Depending on what trading session is dominating that currency is more active. However, a high trading activity is observed during the American session. If you have decided to become a professional trader you must know the working time of trading sessions, it will help you in making the right trading strategy.