UK forex market opening hours: popular times to trade FX

Understanding the forex market hours

The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week; although trading hours vary depending on different time zones and holidays.¹ With us, our weekday forex market is open from 9pm on a Sunday until 10pm on a Friday, at which point weekend markets open.

Each day is broken up into several sessions, with each session being open for a set number of hours depending on the geographic location.

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Although the forex market is usually closed over the weekend, we’re the only UK provider to offer weekend trading on the GBP/USD currency pair. This means you have more opportunities to trade. This also enables you to hedge your weekday GBP/USD positions with a trade on our weekend GBP/USD market.

We also offer weekend trading on EUR/USD and USD/JPY.

Our weekend forex trading hours run from 4am on Saturday to 8.40pm Sunday (UK time). Any positions left open past 8.40pm (UK time) on a Sunday will roll over into weekday positions when those markets resume 20 minutes later at 9pm (UK time).

Broadly speaking, there are three main sessions to trade forex: the Asia-Pacific session, the Europe session, and the US session. The first of these to open is the Asia-Pacific session, with Sydney opening at 9pm (UK time) and closing at 6am (UK time) the following morning. Tokyo – also part of the Asia-Pacific session – opens at 12am (UK time) and closes at 9am (UK time).

The next session to open is Europe, with London – the largest forex centre in the world – opening at 8am (UK time) and closing at 4pm (UK time). The US is the last session to open and to close, with trading in New York starting at 12pm (UK time) and closing at 9pm (UK time), at which point the Sydney session opens again.

It’s important to remember that forex trading hours can vary in March, April, October and November, as countries shift to and from daylight savings or summer times on different days.

You should also bear in mind that no single forex trading session is open 24 hours on its own, but rather the forex market itself is open 24 hours because of the different sessions during which trades can be made.

What are the major forex centres?

The major forex centres around the world are London, New York, Tokyo and Sydney – it’s the different locations of these major centres around the world that makes forex a 24-hour market.¹

Forex is an over-the-counter market, meaning that there’s no centralised forex exchange. Instead, banks, brokers and market makers in the major forex centres around the world make FX trading possible.

Why are the forex market’s trading times important?

The forex market’s trading times are important because, although it’s open 24 hours a day, the market is normally more active during certain sessions, or when there’s a crossover between two sessions in different geographic locations, which means that spreads are usually tighter.¹

However, this increased activity is typically confined to currencies that are found in both locations of a crossover – for example, GBP/USD experiences greater trading volume when both the European and US sessions are open between 12pm and 4pm (UK time).

The beginning of each trading session is when the big institutions such as investment banks are active, and this is often around the time that relevant economic data for each session is published. For example, the UK’s major data releases come out at 8.30am (UK time), while the US tends to publish its numbers from 11.30am, until about 2.30pm (UK time).

These announcements can generate significant volatility depending on the market reaction, so every forex trader needs to know when they’re published.

When are popular times to trade forex in the UK?

Typically, the UK forex market is most active just after the open of the London session at 8am (UK time). At this time, liquidity and volatility will likely be high as traders begin interacting with each other. Trading will usually become less liquid at around 10am (UK time), and it’ll pick up again after the US markets open around 12pm (UK time).

Trading forex during the London session in the UK

Popular forex pairs to trade during the London session are the majors such as the GBP/USD cross or the EUR/GBP cross. This is especially true during the overlap between the London and New York markets, as well as the European session which is open during almost identical hours to the London session.

The Tokyo-London crossover is historically not as busy as the London-New York crossover because of the simple fact that there’s a greater crossover in terms of trading hours between London and New York than between London and Tokyo.

Trading forex during the New York session from the UK

The New York session has the biggest overlap with the London session, and so it’s likely a good time to trade forex in the UK, especially the GBP/USD cross. The New York session is the last trading window to close on the 24-hour forex trading clock, and it often experiences high trading volume.¹

As a result, traders seek to squeeze the last bit of potential profit out of that trading session’s news announcements and events, which can affect the prices of currencies.

Many USD crosses experience their highest trading volumes during the New York session, and this represents a considerable slice of the forex market, with the USD included in more than 88 percent of forex transactions in 2022.²

Trading forex during the Tokyo session from the UK

The Tokyo session is perhaps the least liquid of the major sessions to trade forex from the UK because of the time difference and the limited crossover of only one hour between London and Tokyo. However, you can still trade forex during the Tokyo session from the UK.

Active pairs to trade during the Tokyo session are any JPY crosses, such as USD/JPY or EUR/JPY. There’s also a lot of liquidity and volatility in the AUD/JPY currency pair during the crossover between the Sydney and Tokyo sessions. This is one of the most volatile currency pairs on the market and the second most traded JPY cross, behind USD/JPY.

Learn more about the most volatile currency pairs

Trading forex with us

You can trade different forex sessions from the UK with financial derivatives such as spread bets and contracts for difference (CFDs). These financial products enable you to trade on the price movements of currency pairs such as GBP/USD without taking direct ownership of either.

With us, you can use these spread bets and CFDs to speculate on forex prices rising or falling. The accuracy of your directional assumption determines whether you make a profit or incur a loss; and the extent of the market movement in your favour or against your position determines the amount in profit or loss.

Spread bet and CFD prices are based on the underlying market, and they’re traded with leverage – giving you full market exposure at a deposit, known as margin. However, while leverage magnifies potential profits, it also amplifies possible losses. Due to the use of leverage, your losses may exceed your initial capital outlay. So, it’s important to manage your risk.

Learn more about trading forex with us

How do trading hours affect individual forex pairs?

Some forex pairs will be more heavily affected by an overlap than others. For example, EUR/USD and GBP/USD will see increased activity as New York gets into its stride while London is still fully active.

Typically, a forex pair has greater liquidity when at least one of its markets is open – USD/JPY will likely be busiest during the Asian or US sessions, but less so during the London or European sessions, for example. EUR/JPY is typically more active at the open of the London session, and EUR/USD won’t be quite as busy during the Asian session, and so on.

Whichever pair you choose to trade, regardless of whether it’s one of the biggest and busiest, or one of the more ‘exotic’ ones, it’s vital that you have the relevant information beforehand.

Some important factors include relevant data that’s published on the day and which sessions are likely to be the most volatile. You can then decide whether to trade within the volatile or quiet periods – each approach has its own merits and disadvantages.

As like with so many other instances in trading, there’s no one ‘perfect’ or ‘best’ time to trade forex. However, there’ll be times that are perhaps more popular than others, or times that’ll better suit a particular trading style or currency pair.

You can explore times that might work better for you and your trading style by opening a demo trading account with us. This enables you to practise with £10,000 in virtual funds, without committing any real capital like you would on the live markets.

What to bear in mind before trading during different forex market hours

There are several important things that you might want to consider before trading during different forex market hours. For one, you should remember that liquidity will either be high or low depending on the time you’re trading, and whether there’s any overlap in that session.

The geographic areas included in the overlap also affects liquidity. For example, the London-New York overlap is often more liquid than the London-Tokyo overlap. The same can be said for volatility levels, with the FX market often experiencing greater volatility during the London-New York overlap.

Some traders like high volatility, such as those that use a scalping trading strategy, but others don’t. As a result, it’s important to have an effective risk management plan in place while trading during different forex market hours.