Forex market hours: live trading session clock
Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York on one 24-hour line in your own time zone. See which sessions are open now, when the overlaps run and how long until the next open or close.
Session clock
Times for Thu 29 Oct in UTC. The live clock starts in your browser.
Session times in UTC
| Session | Local hours | Opens | Closes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 07:00–16:00 | 20:00 | Fri 05:00 | — |
| Tokyo | 09:00–18:00 | Fri 00:00 | Fri 09:00 | — |
| London | 08:00–17:00 | Fri 08:00 | Fri 17:00 | — |
| New York | 08:00–17:00 | Fri 12:00 | Fri 21:00 | — |
Overlaps in UTC
- Sydney–TokyoFri 00:00–05:005 h
- Tokyo–LondonFri 08:00–09:001 h
- London–New YorkFri 12:00–17:005 h
Clock changes in the next 14 days
Shifted-overlap week until Sat 31 Oct: London is 4 hours ahead of New York instead of 5, so the London–New York overlap lasts 5 h (12:00–17:00 your time).
Sun 1 Nov: New York goes from UTC−4 to UTC−5 (back to standard time).
Sessions are the commonly used business hours of each centre, in local time: Sydney 07:00–16:00, Tokyo 09:00–18:00, London 08:00–17:00, New York 08:00–17:00. FX trades over the counter 24 hours a day, five days a week; exact liquidity windows and broker server hours vary.
Forex session times in UTC and major time zones
The same four sessions converted to ten time zones, with the overlaps and the weekly open and close.
Computed for Thursday, 29 October 2026. Clocks on that date: Sydney UTC+11 (summer time), Tokyo UTC+9 (no DST), London UTC+0 (standard time), New York UTC−4 (summer time).
| Time zone | Sydney | Tokyo | London | New York | US stocks (cash) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | 20:00−1 – 05:00 | 00:00 – 09:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 12:00 – 21:00 | 13:30 – 20:00 |
| New York (UTC−4) | 16:00−1 – 01:00 | 20:00−1 – 05:00 | 04:00 – 13:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 09:30 – 16:00 |
| Mexico City (UTC−6) | 14:00−1 – 23:00−1 | 18:00−1 – 03:00 | 02:00 – 11:00 | 06:00 – 15:00 | 07:30 – 14:00 |
| London (UTC+0) | 20:00−1 – 05:00 | 00:00 – 09:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 12:00 – 21:00 | 13:30 – 20:00 |
| Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Rome (UTC+1) | 21:00−1 – 06:00 | 01:00 – 10:00 | 09:00 – 18:00 | 13:00 – 22:00 | 14:30 – 21:00 |
| Istanbul (UTC+3) | 23:00−1 – 08:00 | 03:00 – 12:00 | 11:00 – 20:00 | 15:00 – 00:00+1 | 16:30 – 23:00 |
| Dubai (UTC+4) | 00:00 – 09:00 | 04:00 – 13:00 | 12:00 – 21:00 | 16:00 – 01:00+1 | 17:30 – 00:00+1 |
| Singapore (UTC+8) | 04:00 – 13:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 16:00 – 01:00+1 | 20:00 – 05:00+1 | 21:30 – 04:00+1 |
| Tokyo (UTC+9) | 05:00 – 14:00 | 09:00 – 18:00 | 17:00 – 02:00+1 | 21:00 – 06:00+1 | 22:30 – 05:00+1 |
| Sydney (UTC+11) | 07:00 – 16:00 | 11:00 – 20:00 | 19:00 – 04:00+1 | 23:00 – 08:00+1 | 00:30+1 – 07:00+1 |
Overlaps
| Overlap | UTC | New York | London | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney–Tokyo | 00:00 – 05:00 | 20:00−1 – 01:00 | 00:00 – 05:00 | 5 h |
| Tokyo–London | 08:00 – 09:00 | 04:00 – 05:00 | 08:00 – 09:00 | 1 h |
| London–New York | 12:00 – 17:00 | 08:00 – 13:00 | 12:00 – 17:00 | 5 h |
Weekly open and close
| UTC | New York | London | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opens Sunday 17:00 New York | Sunday 21:00 | Sunday 17:00 | Sunday 21:00 |
| Closes Friday 17:00 New York | Friday 21:00 | Friday 17:00 | Friday 21:00 |
These tables are fixed for the date above. The clock at the top recalculates from your device every second, so it stays right after a clock change.
What a forex trading session is
There is no exchange and no opening bell. A session is the working day of one financial centre.
Banks, brokers and funds trade currencies with each other over the counter, so the market runs around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday evening, New York time. What changes through the day is who is at their desk. When a big centre opens, more orders arrive, spreads tighten and prices move more; when it closes, activity drops.
The trading day moves west with the sun: Sydney opens the week, Tokyo follows, then London, the largest FX centre, and finally New York. The hours on this page are the convention most session clocks use, each in its own city’s time: Sydney 07:00–16:00, Tokyo 09:00–18:00, London 08:00–17:00 and New York 08:00–17:00. They are conventions, not rules. Liquidity builds before the nominal open and fades before the close, and your broker’s chart uses its own server clock.
Asian session (Sydney and Tokyo)
Usually the quietest stretch for EUR and GBP pairs. Yen, Australian and New Zealand dollar pairs move most, and the range set here is often tested once London opens.
London session
The largest share of global FX turnover. EUR, GBP and CHF pairs and gold are most active, and the day’s direction often starts in the first hours.
New York session
US data at 08:30 and the stock market open at 09:30 New York time drive the morning. Once London closes, activity usually fades into the evening.
Between sessions
Late New York to the Sydney open is the thinnest part of the day. Spreads widen around the daily roll at 17:00 New York, when brokers also book swap.
Session overlaps and why they matter
When two centres are open together there are more participants, tighter spreads and usually larger moves.
London–New York is the overlap most traders mean. It runs 13:00–17:00 UTC in January and 12:00–16:00 UTC in July, which in New York is always 08:00–12:00, four hours from the New York open to the London close. US data at 08:30 New York lands inside it, so EURUSD, GBPUSD, gold and US indices tend to see the biggest moves of the day here.
Sydney–Tokyo (00:00–05:00 UTC in January, 00:00–06:00 UTC in July) is the busiest part of Asian hours, and Tokyo–London (08:00–09:00 UTC in January, 07:00–09:00 UTC in July) is short but often where the Asian range breaks.
An overlap is not a signal. More volume means more movement in both directions, and news hits harder when everyone is at their desk. Size positions for the volatility you will actually get, and check what is scheduled before the overlap starts.
Daylight saving time: the weeks when sessions shift
The US, the UK and Europe, and Australia change their clocks on different dates. Japan does not change at all.
The United States moves to summer time on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November. The UK and the EU change on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October. Sydney does the opposite season: summer time from the first Sunday of October to the first Sunday of April. Tokyo has no daylight saving time.
Because the US and Europe do not switch on the same day, there are two to three weeks in March and one week around the end of October when London is only four hours ahead of New York. In those weeks the London–New York overlap starts an hour earlier and runs 12:00–17:00 UTC, five hours instead of four, and New York data lands an hour earlier for European traders.
The clock above is computed from your device’s clock and the time zone database, so it shifts on the right day by itself. Your broker’s server time may change on a different day from your own clock: check your platform’s session times in those weeks.
Next clock changes
| Date | Where | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1 November 2026 | New York (US) | UTC−4 → UTC−5, back to standard time |
| 14 March 2027 | New York (US) | UTC−5 → UTC−4, summer time starts |
| 28 March 2027 | London (UK, EU the same day) | UTC+0 → UTC+1, summer time starts |
| 4 April 2027 | Sydney | UTC+11 → UTC+10, back to standard time |
| 3 October 2027 | Sydney | UTC+10 → UTC+11, summer time starts |
Shifted-overlap weeks (London 4 hours ahead of New York)
- 25 – 31 October 2026
- 14 – 27 March 2027
- 31 October – 6 November 2027
The weekend close and the Sunday gap
Five days of trading, two days of closed market, and the price does not wait for Monday.
The FX week closes on Friday at 17:00 New York time and reopens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time: 22:00 UTC while the US is on standard time and 21:00 UTC in US summer time. Sydney is first in, so Monday’s Sydney session effectively starts at the weekly open.
News keeps coming while the market is shut. The first price on Sunday can be away from Friday’s close, the weekend gap, and a stop-loss inside that gap is filled at the first available price, not at your level. Spreads are wide for the first minutes after the open and some brokers start quoting a little later.
Holidays are not in this clock. Around Christmas, New Year and the main US, UK and Japanese bank holidays the sessions are thinner and some brokers change their hours.
Best hours by pair
Which sessions matter most for the instruments traders ask about most. A guide, not a timetable.
EURUSD
London, London–New York overlapEuro area data comes out in the European morning and US data at 08:30 New York, inside the overlap. Asian hours are usually a narrow range.
GBPUSD
London open, London–New York overlapMost UK data is published at 07:00 London, just before the London session. The pound is often most active in the first London hours and again when New York joins.
USDJPY
Tokyo and New YorkJapanese exporters and importers trade in Tokyo hours, including the 09:55 Tokyo fixing. The pair also follows US yields, so the New York morning matters as much as Tokyo.
AUDUSD
Sydney and Tokyo, then New YorkAustralian data and Reserve Bank of Australia decisions land in Asian hours, as does Chinese data, which the Australian dollar often reacts to. US data moves the other side.
XAUUSD (gold)
London and New YorkThe LBMA Gold Price auctions run at 10:30 and 15:00 London time, and US data and yields drive the New York morning. Asian hours are usually thinner.
NAS100 and US30
US stock market hours, 09:30–16:00 New YorkThe cash open and its first hour, and the run into the close, carry most of the day’s volume. Most brokers quote these indices almost around the clock from futures, with a short daily break, but outside cash hours moves are thinner and spreads wider.
Check your broker’s contract specification for its own trading hours and daily breaks, especially for indices and metals.
News release times
Scheduled data and central bank decisions come out at fixed local times, and they move markets more than any session open.
The times below are in each country’s own time, so they move against yours in the daylight saving weeks just like the sessions do. For the exact dates, the impact level and the forecast and previous values, use an economic calendar.
US data: 08:30 New York
Payrolls, CPI, retail sales and GDP. Inside the London–New York overlap.
Federal Reserve: 14:00 New York
FOMC statement, then the press conference at 14:30. After London has closed.
European Central Bank: 14:15 Frankfurt
Rate decision, press conference at 14:45.
Bank of England: 12:00 London
Rate decision and minutes in the middle of the London session.
UK data: 07:00 London
GDP, CPI and labour data, just before the London session.
Bank of Japan and Reserve Bank of Australia
Both in Asian hours: the RBA at 14:30 Sydney, the Bank of Japan with no fixed time, usually around midday Tokyo.
See which session your trades actually make money in
Session clocks tell you when the market is busy, not when you trade well. Fips is a trading journal: its reports break your results down by hour of entry and by weekday, so you can see which session pays and which one costs you.
Private beta: access is by invite from the waitlist. Free plan, no card.
Forex market hours: questions
The FX week opens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time, which is 22:00 UTC while the US is on standard time and 21:00 UTC in US summer time. Sydney is the first session of the week, and many brokers start quoting a few minutes after the open.
Yes, from Sunday 17:00 to Friday 17:00 New York time, five days a week. There is no exchange; trading passes from Sydney to Tokyo, London and New York. Most brokers have a short daily break around 17:00 New York.
For most major pairs and gold, the London session and especially the London–New York overlap, 13:00–17:00 UTC in January and 12:00–16:00 UTC in July. Yen and Australian dollar pairs are also active in Asian hours. The best time for you is the one where your own results are best, which a journal can show.
No. The market closes on Friday at 17:00 New York time and reopens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time. Prices can open away from Friday’s close, the weekend gap.
Daylight saving time. The US changes its clocks on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November, the UK and EU on the last Sundays of March and October. In the weeks between, London is four hours ahead of New York instead of five and the London–New York overlap runs 12:00–17:00 UTC.
With Sydney at 07:00 Sydney time, then Tokyo at 09:00 Tokyo time (00:00 UTC). Sydney and Tokyo overlap 00:00–05:00 UTC in January and 00:00–06:00 UTC in July, because Sydney uses summer time and Tokyo does not.
Often not exactly. Many MetaTrader brokers set their server clock to UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer so that daily candles close at 17:00 New York. The sessions happen at the same moment; only the clock on the chart differs. Choose your own time zone above to read them in your time.
The underlying US stock market trades 09:30–16:00 New York time, Monday to Friday. Most brokers quote NAS100 and US30 almost around the clock from futures with a short daily break, but most of the volume comes in cash hours.
Session hours are conventions, computed from your device clock and the IANA time zone database. Holidays and broker server hours are not included. For information only, not investment advice.
Ready when you are.
Journal, review and size your trades with precision, speed and clarity.