Market Hour

The foreign exchange market operates 24 hours a day, and, unlike the stock market, has no official openings or closings. It moves in response to geopolitical events, press releases from key central banks, and reports on the economy from government statistical bureaus, among many other factors. When traders are inactive in one part of the world due to nightfall, there are traders elsewhere who are actively engaging in trades as it is daytime in their locations.

The Forex market only closes on Friday at 10:00 PM (GMT) for the weekend, and re-opens at 10:00 PM (GMT) on Sunday. Each day, trading begins in Sydney, Australia, and progresses to the next major financial center (Tokyo, London, New York), as the business hours in that city's time zone begin.

Trading volumes in a given region are always highest during its primary business hours, when traders at financial institutions are busy filling and placing orders. The most active times, meaning the times of most liquidity and movement in the markets, is the London open (08:00 AM, GMT), and the overlap between London/Euro close and New York's open (01:00-04:00 PM, GMT).

The hours below correspond to someone living in the GMT time zone.