Forex Market Time Sessions – Live Update – Which Trading Session is Open Now?

Uploaded by Jennifer Hernandez on January 24, 2024 at 7:10 am

What time zone does MetaTrader Terminal follow?

In fact, your local time and MetaTrader terminal time may not be the same. The time in MetaTrader Terminal 4 or 5 is set by the broker. You can’t change its time. Some brokers display GMT+0/UTC+0 Time, while some brokers display EET Time (Eastern European Time) on their Meta Trader.

What is the internationally recognized start-of-day Time in Forex market?

It is 17:00 New York Time. In GMT/UTC based MT terminals, this 17:00 NY Time is equal to 22:00 and in EET based MT terminals, this is equal to 00:00.

During US Day-Light Saving Time; in GMT/UTC based MT terminals, this 17:00 NY Time is equal to 21:00 and in EET based MT terminals, this is equal to 00:00 DST. In fact, after DST, market opens one hour earlier, than your time zone, if your country has not observed DST. So You may need to adjust time settings of your Expert Advisors accordingly, if their strategy is based on time, in some way.

In fact, at 17:00 New York Time, the new day of Forex market starts with New Zealand or Sydney session, as the local time there would be 7 or 8 AM of new day, while the rest of the world may be then still sleeping, in back day.

So when the Forex market opens at start of week, the time in New York is Sunday, 17:00 New York Time and when the Forex market closes at the end of week, the time in New York is Friday, 17:00 New York Time. Since Volatility is low at opening and closing moments of week, some brokers start after opening time (up to 1 hour) and end before closing time (up to 15 minutes).

Forex Trading Sessions
Forex market remains open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, across the world. In fact, Forex market “follows the sun”, moving from one country to the next, as the trading sessions continue. That’s why at any point in time, in 5 days of week, there is at least one market open. There are Four major trading sessions in a day:
Sydney Session
Asian Session (Tokyo Session)
European Session (London Session)
North American Session (New York Session)

These are the timings of these sessions, displayed in GMT/UTC time
Sydney 21:00 to 6:00
Asian (Tokyo) 00:00 to 9:00
European (London) 7:00 to 16:00
North American (New York) 12:00 to 21:00

Daylight Savings Time (DST)
Some countries (like the US, UK, and Australia) shift to or from DST during Oct/Nov and Mar/Apr. Therefore, open and close times will change due to DST shift.

Sessions Overlap
There is a period of time when forex trading sessions overlap. These overlaps are:
1. Sydney and Tokyo
2. Tokyo and London
3. London and New York
These are generally the busiest times of the day because there is more trading volume in the forex market with two sessions running at the same time.

When is the best time to trade forex and why?
The best time to trade forex is when more than one session are open i.e. during an overlap, since more Forex traders are active in the market. There is higher potential for price fluctuation. But remember, this volatility also brings the possibility of greater risk. Generally, the best sessions overlap to trade is the London & New York sessions overlap. And the best currencies to trade at this time are the US Dollar, GBP and Euro.

What holidays affect the forex market?
There are only two holidays i.e. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, when the forex market is officially closed. There are some other dates that can have an impact on certain currency pairs e.g. Japanese holidays can affect the Yen, but not affect other currencies.

Disclaimer! All sharing is for learning and educational purposes only and is not a financial advice. Everyone is responsible for his own decisions. However, risk management should be your top priority, as trading is a risky business.

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