Objectively, there is no such thing as the best time to trade Forex for any one trader - it all depends on individual preferences, aims, and trading strategies.

In this article, we will take a look at the effect that day and night in various parts of the world have on various currency pairs - and by extension, on your trading. We'll also focus on the two major fundamental forces - supply and demand - to identify the best times to trade Forex for you.

Liquidity - being able to find a counterparty for every transaction - can be a problem in some financial markets , but not in Forex. Whilst liquidity isn't relevant when choosing the best time of day to trade Forex, it is worth mentioning for background knowledge. Most retail traders trade with a market-making broker , who is always ready and willing to fill an order for them.

In these cases, the only time that problems may occur is when the broker itself is experiencing problems filling orders on the Interbank. An example of this occurred during the CHF move on 15 January , when the Swiss National Bank lifted the Euro peg - a gap is a gap to everybody.

Forex is a real liquidity miracle, and price gaps are so rare that it usually takes a beginner trader a few months of trading before they see one with their own eyes. Volatility looks at how strong price moves can be at a particular time of the day, and it varies greatly in the currency market per pair, and at each time of the day.

It is vital for traders to be able to understand volatility, because the vast majority of trading strategies are incompatible with periods of high volatility.

Market tests clearly indicate that adjusting a trading schedule according to a strategy-preferred volatility can make the difference between major losses and major profits, even when all other things are equal. For example, an oscillator-based trading strategy that best fits ranging markets and hunts the 'bounce offs' off the key levels will not benefit much from level breakouts caused by high volatility.

Whenever creating or considering a strategy, work out what level of volatility it will work with and apply it accordingly.

Volatile periods aren't always the best times of day to trade Forex. Why do volatility levels vary per instrument, per day, and why does the price move at all? The answer is simply down to supply and demand. The market, Forex, or any other for that matter, is moved by the sheer amount of unfilled orders. The more of them there are and the higher in volume they are - the more volatility there will be on the market. Now let's take a look at who the main market movers are. Institutions place the biggest orders in the largest quantities and between set times.

Unlike private traders who have the freedom to trade as they choose, institutions operate according to the working hours of the trading capitals of the world. Did you know that Admirals offers an enhanced version of MetaTrader that boosts trading capabilities? Now you can trade with MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 with an advanced version of MetaTrader that offers excellent additional features such as the correlation matrix, which enables you to view and contrast various currency pairs in real-time, or the mini trader widget - which allows you to buy or sell via a small window while you continue with everything else you need to do.

In the two following hours they are joined by Tokyo, where the largest part of Asian currency trading takes place, closely followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. It is at the beginning of the Asian-Pacific session on Sunday nights that the currency market opens for the week, and when individual traders and institutions attempt to stabilise after relevant events that might have taken place over the weekend. This is the only time of the week when gaps occur regularly, meaning that unless gaps are specifically what you are after, trading over the weekend isn't the best time to trade Forex.

Frankfurt - the financial heart of Europe - starts an hour ahead of London, but this activity lag is mostly neglected. At PM GMT the North-American trading session begins, starting in New York, and later followed by Los Angeles. By nightfall in Los Angeles, the markets will slow down bringing an end to the current trading day. Since world trading sessions gradually flow into one another, some overlapping takes place. There are key windows for trading Forex that can be more or less profitable, according to daily, weekly and monthly trends.

Market volumes and prices can go wild first thing in the morning. Credit goes to all the news releases of the opening hours representing the window in which market factors, since the previous closing bell. A skilled trader may be able to recognise the appropriate patterns and make a quick profit, but a less skilled trader could suffer serious losses as a result. So if you're a novice, you may want to avoid trading during these volatile hours—or at least, within the first hour.

However, for seasoned day traders, that first 15 minutes following the opening bell is prime time, usually offering some of the biggest trades of the day on the initial trends. Experienced trade expert, Markus Gabel, shares his trading strategy in the below free webinar.

The morning hours are the key time for announcements from monetary policy makers and other relevant news releases to take place. The beginning of the day is also when institutional traders are most active, as it's the best time of day for them to trade Forex.

This activity contributes to the rise in volatility levels. Currency relevance is logical. If it is morning in London, then it will be the Bank of England releasing financial news, with British companies hedging orders to protect their future Pound Sterling based purchases from abroad. So it makes sense that it will be the British banks and funds speculating on the market.

British private traders are most active in the day time for this reason, but their impact will be relatively insignificant. The reason for this is due to the small volume they produce, and also because private traders are less currency bound. The scenario will apply for other countries and currencies, so if you are chasing market volatility as part of your trading strategy, then the best times of day to trade Forex for you would coincide with the bigger movers.

The most volatile time of day for the European currencies and currency pairs that include them would be the London session. In this case we are mostly talking about EUR, GBP, and CHF. Likewise, currencies of the countries that are geographically located in the Asian-Pacific region, like JPY, AUD, NZD and to a lesser extent SGD and HKD, will be predominately traded during the Asian-Pacific session.

Lastly, USD, CAD, and MXN spike in volatility during the North-American session. Now, as mentioned above, due to the fact that trading sessions overlap, in addition to the fact that currency pairs often consist of currencies from different regions, volatility spikes get somewhat skewed. Finally, because Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, this overlap sees the least trading activity. One other thing to keep in mind is that most of the currency market volume comes from the Forex spot market, which is also the one that retail traders mostly trade.

More specifically, to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and several of its partners across the US and abroad called introducing brokers. The importance of this fact is that it further reinforces the notion that in the futures market, all pairs can only be traded against the US Dollar. There are many ways to find out what the average volatility is for a specific currency pair on a specific timeframe.

When carrying out your research, make sure that your strategy appreciates volatility, rather than suffers from it, and you will easily identify the best times to trade Forex. Whilst the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, it doesn't mean that you have to constantly be watching it.

In order to succeed in Forex, you need a clear, alert mind. The Forex market is open Monday through Friday, and is closed on weekends. While Mondays and Fridays are usually slow, there can be significant movements on these days, especially if important market events happened over the weekend which may cause the market to open with a gap on Monday. Similarly, many market participants who trade on a shorter-term close their trades on Friday, which could reverse the dominant trend during the week during late Friday trading due to these profit-taking activities.

Traders also need to follow a Forex calendar which lists important market releases during the week. Important central bank meetings also happen most of the time between Tuesday to Thursday. As you can see, the best time to trade Forex depends on your trading goals and trading style. Scalpers would find the best times to be those with increased market activity and liquidity, which lowers transaction costs. Day traders would like to trade on those days which offer the largest price swings, and be cautious when trading on Fridays since profit-taking activities can reverse familiar price directions.

If we had to pick only one time of the day to trade the market, that would undoubtedly be the New York-London overlap, which starts at PM GMT with the open of the New York session, and ends at PM GMT with the close of the London session. These trading hours have not only the highest liquidity, but also the highest volatility, as a lot of important market reports are released during these hours.

For example, US reports are usually scheduled during the US mornings, which happens to be between PM GMT and PM GMT. Even though higher liquidity usually lowers price volatility, the sheer amount of buying and selling power during the New York-London overlap tends to cause large price swings every single day. Another important aspect of Forex trading sessions is knowing which currencies to trade during which trading sessions.

Again, this is important for scalpers and day traders, as they hold their trades for a relatively short period of time compared to swing and position traders. In essence, currencies such as the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar are less traded than other majors, such as the US dollar, euro, and British pound. The Sydney session, for example, could increase the liquidity for AUD pairs compared to other sessions. Bear in mind that the NY-London overlap can be used to trade any currency pair.

The European session, including centers such as London, Paris, and Frankfurt, offers the largest volatility not only for European currencies, but also for other major pairs and cross-pairs. The British pound vs Swiss franc pair — both European currencies — has the largest average volatility during the European session. However, this cross-pair is less liquid than other pairs, which magnifies its volatility.

Major pairs, which are pairs that consist of the US dollar and one of the remaining seven major currencies, are usually highly-traded during all Forex trading sessions. There are many factors which influence the best hours to trade Forex: the currencies are you trading, your location, whether you are looking for lower transaction costs or higher volatility, whether you are a day trader or a swing trader, and so on.

The Forex market is an over-the-counter market which trades during Forex trading sessions, including the New York trading session, the London trading session, the Sydney trading session, and the Tokyo trading session. The Asian trading session actively trades Asian currencies, such as the Japanese yen, Australian dollar, and New Zealand dollar.

However, bear in mind that the New York and London sessions actively trade all major currencies, not only the US dollar and European currencies. Typically, many traders will find the New York-London overlap to be the best time of day to trade the Forex market.

The New York-London overlap starts at PM GMT with the open of the New York session, and ends at PM GMT with the close of the London session. Since these two trading sessions are individually also the most active sessions out of the four major sessions, their overlap creates an extremely high number of orders which can both increase the price volatility, and reduce transaction costs.

A new exciting website with services that better suit your location has recently launched! Home page Getting started Articles about Forex Trading strategies Best time of day to trade Forex. Most active Forex times Even though the Forex market is open around the clock, not all trading hours are the same in terms of activity, volatility, and liquidity. Best days to trade Forex Besides trading hours, Forex traders should also pay attention to their trading days.

One of the many advantages of the Forex market is that it is open for trading 24 hours a day. Unlike the stock market, the currency market operates according to the normal business hours of three business centres spread across different time zones. Traders have the freedom to trade as and when they choose, depending on their particular interests.

Objectively, there is no such thing as the best time to trade Forex for any one trader - it all depends on individual preferences, aims, and trading strategies.

In this article, we will take a look at the effect that day and night in various parts of the world have on various currency pairs - and by extension, on your trading. We'll also focus on the two major fundamental forces - supply and demand - to identify the best times to trade Forex for you.

Liquidity - being able to find a counterparty for every transaction - can be a problem in some financial markets , but not in Forex. Whilst liquidity isn't relevant when choosing the best time of day to trade Forex, it is worth mentioning for background knowledge. Most retail traders trade with a market-making broker , who is always ready and willing to fill an order for them. In these cases, the only time that problems may occur is when the broker itself is experiencing problems filling orders on the Interbank.

An example of this occurred during the CHF move on 15 January , when the Swiss National Bank lifted the Euro peg - a gap is a gap to everybody. Forex is a real liquidity miracle, and price gaps are so rare that it usually takes a beginner trader a few months of trading before they see one with their own eyes. Volatility looks at how strong price moves can be at a particular time of the day, and it varies greatly in the currency market per pair, and at each time of the day.

It is vital for traders to be able to understand volatility, because the vast majority of trading strategies are incompatible with periods of high volatility. Market tests clearly indicate that adjusting a trading schedule according to a strategy-preferred volatility can make the difference between major losses and major profits, even when all other things are equal.

For example, an oscillator-based trading strategy that best fits ranging markets and hunts the 'bounce offs' off the key levels will not benefit much from level breakouts caused by high volatility. Whenever creating or considering a strategy, work out what level of volatility it will work with and apply it accordingly. Volatile periods aren't always the best times of day to trade Forex.

Why do volatility levels vary per instrument, per day, and why does the price move at all? The answer is simply down to supply and demand. The market, Forex, or any other for that matter, is moved by the sheer amount of unfilled orders. The more of them there are and the higher in volume they are - the more volatility there will be on the market. Now let's take a look at who the main market movers are.

Institutions place the biggest orders in the largest quantities and between set times. Unlike private traders who have the freedom to trade as they choose, institutions operate according to the working hours of the trading capitals of the world.

Did you know that Admirals offers an enhanced version of MetaTrader that boosts trading capabilities? Now you can trade with MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 with an advanced version of MetaTrader that offers excellent additional features such as the correlation matrix, which enables you to view and contrast various currency pairs in real-time, or the mini trader widget - which allows you to buy or sell via a small window while you continue with everything else you need to do.

In the two following hours they are joined by Tokyo, where the largest part of Asian currency trading takes place, closely followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. It is at the beginning of the Asian-Pacific session on Sunday nights that the currency market opens for the week, and when individual traders and institutions attempt to stabilise after relevant events that might have taken place over the weekend. This is the only time of the week when gaps occur regularly, meaning that unless gaps are specifically what you are after, trading over the weekend isn't the best time to trade Forex.

Frankfurt - the financial heart of Europe - starts an hour ahead of London, but this activity lag is mostly neglected. At PM GMT the North-American trading session begins, starting in New York, and later followed by Los Angeles.

By nightfall in Los Angeles, the markets will slow down bringing an end to the current trading day. Since world trading sessions gradually flow into one another, some overlapping takes place.

There are key windows for trading Forex that can be more or less profitable, according to daily, weekly and monthly trends. Market volumes and prices can go wild first thing in the morning. Credit goes to all the news releases of the opening hours representing the window in which market factors, since the previous closing bell. A skilled trader may be able to recognise the appropriate patterns and make a quick profit, but a less skilled trader could suffer serious losses as a result.

So if you're a novice, you may want to avoid trading during these volatile hours—or at least, within the first hour. However, for seasoned day traders, that first 15 minutes following the opening bell is prime time, usually offering some of the biggest trades of the day on the initial trends.

Experienced trade expert, Markus Gabel, shares his trading strategy in the below free webinar. The morning hours are the key time for announcements from monetary policy makers and other relevant news releases to take place.

The beginning of the day is also when institutional traders are most active, as it's the best time of day for them to trade Forex.

This activity contributes to the rise in volatility levels. Currency relevance is logical. If it is morning in London, then it will be the Bank of England releasing financial news, with British companies hedging orders to protect their future Pound Sterling based purchases from abroad. So it makes sense that it will be the British banks and funds speculating on the market.

British private traders are most active in the day time for this reason, but their impact will be relatively insignificant. The reason for this is due to the small volume they produce, and also because private traders are less currency bound. The scenario will apply for other countries and currencies, so if you are chasing market volatility as part of your trading strategy, then the best times of day to trade Forex for you would coincide with the bigger movers.

The most volatile time of day for the European currencies and currency pairs that include them would be the London session. In this case we are mostly talking about EUR, GBP, and CHF. Likewise, currencies of the countries that are geographically located in the Asian-Pacific region, like JPY, AUD, NZD and to a lesser extent SGD and HKD, will be predominately traded during the Asian-Pacific session.

Lastly, USD, CAD, and MXN spike in volatility during the North-American session. Now, as mentioned above, due to the fact that trading sessions overlap, in addition to the fact that currency pairs often consist of currencies from different regions, volatility spikes get somewhat skewed. Finally, because Tokyo is 16 hours ahead of Los Angeles, this overlap sees the least trading activity. One other thing to keep in mind is that most of the currency market volume comes from the Forex spot market, which is also the one that retail traders mostly trade.

More specifically, to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and several of its partners across the US and abroad called introducing brokers. The importance of this fact is that it further reinforces the notion that in the futures market, all pairs can only be traded against the US Dollar. There are many ways to find out what the average volatility is for a specific currency pair on a specific timeframe. When carrying out your research, make sure that your strategy appreciates volatility, rather than suffers from it, and you will easily identify the best times to trade Forex.

Whilst the Forex market is open 24 hours a day, it doesn't mean that you have to constantly be watching it. In order to succeed in Forex, you need a clear, alert mind.

Ensure your strategies allow you to trade accordingly without having to sacrifice your existing routines. If you would like to read more about the best times to trade on the Forex market, make sure to read our related article: Best days of the week to trade Forex.

Did you know that it's possible to trade with virtual currency, using real-time market data and insights from professional trading experts, without putting any of your capital at risk? That's right. With an Admirals' risk-free demo trading account, professional traders can test their strategies and perfect them without risking their money.

A demo account is the perfect place for a beginner trader to get comfortable with trading, or for seasoned traders to practice. Whatever the purpose may be, a demo account is a necessity for the modern trader. Open your FREE demo trading account today by clicking the banner below! About Admirals Admirals is a multi-award winning, globally regulated Forex and CFD broker, offering trading on over 8, financial instruments via the world's most popular trading platforms: MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.

Start trading today! This material does not contain and should not be construed as containing investment advice, investment recommendations, an offer of or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments. Please note that such trading analysis is not a reliable indicator for any current or future performance, as circumstances may change over time.

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Why Admirals? Regulation Financial Security Secure your trading account Contact Admirals Company News. Help center. Status Page. Login Register. Top search terms: Create an account, Mobile application, Invest account, Web trader platform. When Is The Best Time of Day to Trade Forex? Admirals Jun 23, 9 Min read. Forex Liquidity Liquidity - being able to find a counterparty for every transaction - can be a problem in some financial markets , but not in Forex.

Forex Volatility Volatility looks at how strong price moves can be at a particular time of the day, and it varies greatly in the currency market per pair, and at each time of the day. The Why Why do volatility levels vary per instrument, per day, and why does the price move at all? MetaTrader Supreme Edition - Admirals Did you know that Admirals offers an enhanced version of MetaTrader that boosts trading capabilities?

Download it for FREE today by clicking the banner below!

You can now search for your chosen forex pair. This will ensure that you never lose too much money on an unsuccessful trade. It can be relaxing to look only at the primary trend analyzing the daily time frame. Start Trading. Then, at the end of each week, you can review your forex trading journal and assess whether or not you could have done things differently. With that, investment capital flocks toward places that are showing economic growth, and as a result, better investment opportunities arise, leading to the exchange in the country strengthening. When the trader has identified a trading opportunity, it will instantly send a signal to its member base.

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