Forex Sessions - The Trading Hours

Forex moves in cycles, Asian steady, London volatile, New York powerful, and weekends completely closed.

Forex Sessions - The Trading Hours

Forex is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, but that doesn’t mean it’s active all the time. There are stretches where it’s fast and aggressive, and others where you’re basically watching paint dry. Understanding the market sessions isn’t just helpful, it’s essential if you don’t want to waste your time glued to a dead chart.

Forex kicks off on Monday morning in Asia and closes on Friday night in New York. From late Friday through to Monday, it’s closed. No trades, no price updates, just dead air. People like to say it’s a 24-hour market, but weekends are off-limits, time to rest, or at least stop staring at charts.

The market follows the world’s biggest financial centres as they open and close. The day splits into three major sessions, Asian, London, and New York, each with their own mood and pace.


Asian Session

Midnight to 8am (UK), 6pm to 2am (CT), 9am to 5pm (Tokyo)

This is the start of the forex day, opening in Tokyo alongside Sydney. Activity is steady but never frantic. You’ll get the best movement in JPY and AUD pairs, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, and NZD/USD are your go-to options here.

Outside of that, things can be sluggish. Spreads widen, momentum is lighter, and the big moves often wait until Europe wakes up. If you’re in Tokyo, this is your local session. In London, it’s the midnight shift. In the US, it’s the evening hours, worth keeping an eye on if you trade Asia-Pacific currencies but probably not worth staying up all night for.


London Session

8am to 4pm (UK), 2am to 10am (CT), 4pm to Midnight (Tokyo)

London drives the bulk of forex trading, and this session brings energy. It’s not just the UK, other European markets like Frankfurt and Paris are moving too, creating high liquidity and plenty of price action.

If you’re trading GBP pairs, EUR/USD, or anything European, this is the time to be alert. The first couple of hours after 8am (UK) are usually the busiest, spikes, breakouts, and news shocks are common. The market generally stays active until around 4pm when Europe starts closing up.

For US traders, this is an early start (2am CT), but some choose to wake up for it because the action is worth it. For Tokyo, it’s an evening session, decent for after-work trading.


New York Session

1pm to 9pm (UK), 7am to 3pm (CT), 9pm to 5am (Tokyo)

As London powers down, New York takes the lead. The overlap between London and New York (1pm to 4pm UK) is the busiest part of the forex day. The most liquidity, the tightest spreads, and the biggest moves often happen here, especially around US data releases.

EUR/USD and GBP/USD get particularly sharp, and you’ll often see decisive moves in gold and indices too. After 4pm UK time (10am CT), things can slow down, especially after Europe fully closes, but New York can still produce clean moves until around 9pm (UK).

For Tokyo, it’s an awkward overnight slot. For London, it’s the afternoon. For US traders, this is the comfortable daytime shift, arguably the most active and tradeable hours.


If you care about clean price action and avoidable frustration, you trade when people with money are actually at their desks. Asian session is useful for certain currencies, London offers the best energy, and New York brings power moves, especially in the overlap. Everything outside of these times? You’re gambling in slow motion.

Know when the market is alive, and you’ll avoid a lot of pointless screen time.