How the forex week and the four sessions work
Forex has no central exchange, so there is no single bell. Trading follows the sun: banks and dealers in Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York take over from each other, and the market is open around the clock from Sunday evening to Friday evening. The most common convention for the week is Sunday 17:00 to Friday 17:00 New York time, which is 22:00 UTC when New York is on standard time and 21:00 UTC when it is on summer time. Brokers differ by a few minutes, and many close or reopen their servers slightly later.
A session is the stretch of local business hours in one of those financial centres. This page uses a common convention in local clock time, so that daylight saving is handled by the time zone database and not by guesswork: Sydney 08:00–17:00, Tokyo 09:00–18:00, London 08:00–17:00 and New York 08:00–17:00. Guides disagree by an hour at either end (some use 07:00–16:00 for London), so treat any session table, including this one, as a convention and not a rule.
| Session | Local hours used here | UTC, 14 January | UTC, 15 July |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 08:00–17:00 | 21:00–06:00 | 22:00–07:00 |
| Tokyo | 09:00–18:00 | 00:00–09:00 | 00:00–09:00 |
| London | 08:00–17:00 | 08:00–17:00 | 07:00–16:00 |
| New York | 08:00–17:00 | 13:00–22:00 | 12:00–21:00 |
Tokyo never moves because Japan does not change its clocks. London and New York move, but not on the same dates, and Sydney moves in the opposite season because Australia is in the southern hemisphere.
Overlaps, and why they matter
Two sessions are open at the same time for a few hours a day. Those windows are when more dealers are quoting at once, which generally means tighter spreads and more movement. The long overlap is London with New York; the shorter ones are Sydney with Tokyo and Tokyo with London. Activity is typically highest in the London–New York overlap, which is why many traders plan around it. That is a tendency, not a guarantee: a quiet overlap on a holiday and a busy Asian session after a surprise are both normal.
| Overlap (UTC) | 14 January | 15 July | 28 October (UK on GMT, US still on summer time) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney – Tokyo | 00:00–06:00 | 00:00–07:00 | 00:00–06:00 |
| Tokyo – London | 08:00–09:00 | 07:00–09:00 | 08:00–09:00 |
| London – New York | 13:00–17:00 (4 h) | 12:00–16:00 (4 h) | 12:00–17:00 (5 h) |
The last column is the interesting one. The UK moves its clocks on different dates from the US, so for a few weeks in spring and autumn the London–New York overlap is 5 hours instead of 4, and it starts one hour earlier in UTC. A static table cannot show that. The live tool above computes it for today's date.
What this means for your own clock
The overlap stays at 08:00–12:00 New York time all year and at 13:00–17:00 London time all year, but its time in other places depends on which clocks have changed. The same overlap in a few time zones, computed from the time zone database:
| Your time zone | London–New York overlap in January | London–New York overlap in July |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 08:00 – 12:00 | 08:00 – 12:00 |
| London | 13:00 – 17:00 | 13:00 – 17:00 |
| Dubai | 17:00 – 21:00 | 16:00 – 20:00 |
| Mumbai | 18:30 – 22:30 | 17:30 – 21:30 |
| Singapore | 21:00 – 01:00 | 20:00 – 00:00 |
| Tokyo | 22:00 – 02:00 | 21:00 – 01:00 |
| Sydney | 00:00 – 04:00 | 22:00 – 02:00 |
Using session times when you size and place trades
- Stops should fit the session. A stop distance that sits outside the normal range of the London–New York overlap can be too tight in it, and the same distance may be far wider than the Asian session ever travels. Measure the typical range for the hours you trade, then use the lot size calculator to turn that stop into a size.
- Spreads widen when liquidity thins. Around the daily rollover (17:00 New York), at the weekly open and before major data, spreads can be several times normal. The spread is part of your stop distance, so it changes the size the calculator returns.
- Scheduled news cluster in the overlap. Many US releases arrive at 08:30 New York time, and European data in the morning in London. Slippage is more likely on the stop at those minutes.
- Weekends can gap. The market is closed from Friday 17:00 to Sunday 17:00 New York time. If news breaks meanwhile, Sunday's open can gap past a stop, and the loss can exceed what you planned.
Which pairs are active in which session
As a general guide, a currency is most active while its home market is open. EUR and GBP pairs are busiest in the London session and the overlap, USD pairs from London through New York, JPY pairs in Tokyo and again in London and New York, and AUD and NZD pairs in the Sydney and Tokyo hours. Brokers and data providers publish different statistics, so check the pair you trade on your own chart rather than relying on a rule of thumb. Our pip value calculator shows what a pip is worth on each pair once you have picked one.
How the tool works out what is open
and local time is inside the session's local hours
and the market is open (not between Fri 17:00 and Sun 17:00 New York time)Local time for each city comes from the IANA time zone database (Australia/Sydney, Asia/Tokyo, Europe/London, America/New_York) as built into your browser, so daylight saving changes happen on the real dates. Overlaps are the minutes in which two sessions are open together. Countdowns are exact to five minutes.
Worked examples
The London–New York overlap through the year
With both cities on standard time (14 January) the overlap is 13:00–17:00 UTC, 4 hours. With both on summer time (15 July) it is 12:00–16:00 UTC, also 4 hours, one hour earlier on the UTC clock. In the weeks when the UK is back on standard time but the US is still on summer time (for example 28 October) it stretches to 12:00–17:00 UTC, 5 hours. The same happens in March (11 March: 12:00–17:00 UTC).
What it looks like in Singapore, Dubai and Sydney
The overlap sits at a different time of day depending on where you are: in Singapore 21:00 – 01:00 in January and 20:00 – 00:00 in July; in Dubai 17:00 – 21:00 and 16:00 – 20:00; in Sydney 00:00 – 04:00 in January and 22:00 – 02:00 in July. Each shifts by an hour with the seasons because the clocks in London and New York move, and the clocks in those three places mostly do not.
When the week starts
The forex week opens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time. In January that is Sunday 22:00 UTC; in July it is Sunday 21:00 UTC. For someone in Tokyo that is early Monday morning, so the first thing they see is the Sydney and Tokyo sessions already running.
Frequently asked questions
What time does the forex market open on Sunday?
By the usual convention it opens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time: 22:00 UTC in winter and 21:00 UTC in summer (when New York is on summer time). Your broker may open a few minutes later, and Sydney is already trading by then.
Is the forex market open 24 hours?
Yes, 24 hours a day on weekdays, but not 24/7. It closes on Friday at 17:00 New York time and reopens on Sunday at 17:00 New York time. Liquidity is much thinner at some hours than others, so being open is not the same as being active.
When is the best time to trade forex?
There is no single best time. Activity is typically highest when London and New York overlap (13:00–17:00 UTC in winter and 12:00–16:00 UTC in summer), but that is also when news is released and moves can be fast. Choose the hours that suit the pair you trade, your strategy and your stop distance.
How does daylight saving change forex session times?
The sessions are anchored to local clock time, so their UTC time moves when local clocks change. Tokyo never changes. London and New York change on different dates, so for a few weeks in March and October or November the London–New York overlap is 5 hours (for example 12:00–17:00 UTC) instead of 4. Sydney changes in the opposite season.
Why do other websites show different session times?
There is no official definition. Some sources use London 07:00–16:00, others 08:00–17:00, and some define sessions in UTC and ignore daylight saving. This page uses local business hours and says so. If your broker's platform shows server time, check its offset from UTC before relying on any table.
Does the forex market close for holidays?
Rarely fully, but liquidity drops sharply on bank holidays in the main centres (for example Christmas Day and New Year's Day), and some brokers shorten their hours. Spreads widen and prices can jump on thin volume. Check your broker's holiday notice before holding positions through a holiday.
Know when the market is active, then find the setup.
Sessions tell you when liquidity is likely to be there. These indicators help you see what price is doing with it.
Last updated November 2026. For education only. Not financial advice. Results depend on your inputs and cannot predict future performance.