Forex Market Trading Hours
How the 24×5 FX market runs across Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York sessions.
Forex has no single exchange — it is a global network of banks and platforms trading 24 hours on weekdays. Sessions traditionally roll **Sydney → Tokyo → London → New York**. Peak liquidity is often the **London–New York overlap** (roughly UTC 12:00–16:00).
Major sessions (local reference)
- Sydney/Wellington: ~7 AM–4 PM local (Asia-Pacific open)
- Tokyo/Hong Kong/Singapore: ~9 AM–6 PM local (Asian session)
- London: ~8 AM–5 PM GMT/BST (European core)
- New York: ~8 AM–5 PM Eastern (US session)
Vs stock market hours
FX closes on weekends; Monday Asia can open before New York's Sunday ends. DST shifts US/EU UTC mappings — use Convert in March/October. Compare Global Stock Market Trading Hours; UTC Basics for session labels.
Tips
- Major releases (NFP, CPI) publish on local country schedules
- Spreads may widen on DST transition weeks — not a zone math bug
- Chart platform default zone ≠ official market convention
- Live clocks: Countries