Now that we have set the base timezone as GMT, we move on to understand the available forex market sessions. There are 4 market sessions based on timings and these are the Sydney session, the Tokyo session, the London session and the New York Session.
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The markets have been democratic is splitting these sessions across continents with one session each in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Traders need to go through the above timings again and again a few times to fully grasp it all. The challenges in understanding this are multiple as the sessions are four and you have to convert them into your timezone and then you also have to adjust it for DST. So how do you use forex market hours clock while trading?
The liquidity and the volatility varies from session to session. It is low during the Sydney session and it picks up as the Tokyo session begins and the traders from Japan join those from Australia. It picks up even further during the London session, even though the Sydney session is closed by then, as the major banks and hedge funds of the world have a branch in the UK and they join the trading and increase the liquidity in the markets.
Then the NY session brings in even more volatility and liquidity into the mix and that is when the full flow of the market is seen. Again, if you are in South Africa for example, it is important for you to understand the forex market hours as in South Africa so that you can plan your trade accordingly. It is always good to avoid times of low liquidity as the prices tend to be either very less volatile or too volatile and you, as a trader, would not be in a position to comprehend the moves that happen in the market.
None of the analysis that you have made, either fundamental or technical , would be useful at times of low liquidity as the market is rocked this way. It is especially important to understand the forex market hours for the weekend as the beginning of the forex market session on Monday is likely to see very little liquidity, as traders return to their desk, but high volatility as the weekend news tend to affect various currencies.
As traders, it is important to stay out at such times and choose the times when the volatility and the liquidity are pretty good. This is either the London session or the best time to trade would be the time when the London session and the NY session overlap so that you get the best liquidity and volatility, these can be trusted to lead in the correct direction. The worst possible time would be the time between the end of the US session and the open of the Sydney session but of course, there are some traders a very rare and unsuccessful breed who like to use this lack of liquidity to scalp some quick trades.
Now that you have understood the different sessions and also understood why it is important to trade during times of high liquidity, lets move on to the next higher level to understand when forex market hours clock opens and closes in a time span of a week. This is generally quite challenging for the traders as once the market begins for the week, prices keep moving all through the day and traders tend to go with the flow.
Traders find it difficult to wait for the open on Sundays and also find it difficult to time their closure of trades for the week on Fridays as they are unable to grasp the exact timings.
In the weekend, forex market is generally closed for most part of Saturday and Sunday. But the forex trading hours on the weekend vary from region to region. The market opens for the week at 9 PM or 10 PM GMT based on summer or winter as specified in the table above but the actual time varies from country to country depending on their timezone. So, for some traders, depending on which part of the world they are in, the market opens on Sunday itself while for certain traders like those in Australia , the market opens only on Monday morning.
If you are in India, the forex market hours in India are such that the market opens only on Monday early morning.
Trading hours
But before you start trading, make sure you have a reliable online broker and a strategy that reflects the weekend market environment. Yes — forex trading is possible over the weekend. The most commonly used strategy is the weekend gap technique, which looks to profit from the change in price between when the market closes on a Friday and when it reopens on a Sunday. Forex positions held over the weekend may incur rollover charges. Online brokers normally publish a calendar of rollover times and charges.
Technically, forex weekend trading hours run around the clock, with no specific opening and closing times. With that said, large institutional investors and banks typically do not operate over the weekend, so there is significantly less volume from Friday 5 pm EST through to Sunday at 7 pm EST. The weekend gaps strategy is the most popular technique used over the weekend. Traders seek to profit from movements in price between the close of the market on a Friday and the price when the market reopens on a Sunday.
Forex Market Hours Definition
To trade forex over the weekend, you need an online broker that operates during weekend hours. You also need a reliable trading platform, an effective strategy and the time to conduct your analysis and take positions. Home Forex Trading — Tutorial and Brokers. Top 3 Forex Brokers in Germany.
You will also be able to view the Trading Hours from within your MetaTrader trading terminal by following the process outlined below. Trading Hours are subject to change. The most accurate details are those displayed in your account through the electronic trading system.
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