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Forex market hours: sessions, overlaps and the weekend close (UTC)

Approximate forex session times in UTC, how daylight saving time shifts them, the busy overlaps, the weekend close, and what it means for Sky Trade pairs.

By Sky Trade editorial teamUpdated November 5, 20263 min read

Your time zone: —…

Session	Local hours	UTC	Your time
Sydney	07:00–16:00	—–—	—–—
Tokyo	09:00–18:00	—–—	—–—
London	08:00–17:00	—–—	—–—
New York	08:00–17:00	—–—	—–—

Session hours are conventional (local business hours of each centre) and shift with daylight saving time. Sky Trade market pairs trade only while fresh real quotes arrive; OTC instruments are available 24/7.

The forex market trades around the clock on weekdays, but not with the same energy all day. Activity moves with the business day from Asia-Pacific to Europe to North America, and the tool above shows where we are in that cycle right now. Below is how the sessions work and how to use them when choosing when to trade.

The four main sessions (approximate, UTC)

Sessions have no official opening bell; these are conventional windows based on local business hours.

Session	Northern-hemisphere winter	Northern-hemisphere summer
Sydney	~21:00–06:00	~22:00–07:00
Tokyo	~00:00–09:00	~00:00–09:00
London	~08:00–17:00	~07:00–16:00
New York	~13:00–22:00	~12:00–21:00

Daylight saving time shifts the windows. The UK and EU move their clocks on the last Sundays of March and October, the US on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November, Australia in the opposite season, and Japan not at all. For a couple of weeks a year the gaps between sessions change by an hour. Treat any session time as approximate.

Overlaps: when it's busiest

London–New York (roughly 12:00/13:00 to 16:00/17:00 UTC) is usually the most active part of the day for EUR/USD, GBP/USD and other dollar pairs. Major US data releases often land here.
Tokyo–London is a short overlap in the European morning; yen crosses such as EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY often pick up.
Late US to early Asia is typically the quietest stretch, with smaller candles and thinner trading.

More activity means bigger moves, in both directions. It doesn't mean easier trades. See forex market sessions and volatility.

The weekend close

Forex closes on Friday evening around the end of the New York session (about 21:00–22:00 UTC depending on DST) and reopens on Sunday evening with the start of the Asia-Pacific week. The first prices after the reopening can differ from Friday's close — a weekend gap.

What this means on Sky Trade

Market pairs (21 forex pairs) use real interbank quotes. There is no hard-coded schedule: a pair is available while fresh quotes arrive, and when no fresh quote has come in for 2 minutes — at weekends, on holidays or during a feed outage — new trades are refused with "market for this pair is closed". See market closed.

OTC instruments (38 of them) are available 24/7, including weekends. Their prices are generated by Sky Trade's server and do not follow the real market, so forex sessions don't apply to them. Being open at 3 a.m. on a Sunday is a property of the generator, not a sign of activity. Read OTC explained.

Tips for choosing hours

Decide what you want. Calm ranges and busy trends behave differently; pick hours that match the approach you're testing.
Check the economic calendar before the London–New York overlap. Scheduled news can move a pair several times its usual range in seconds.
Watch the clock near the Friday close. Quotes thin out, and a market pair may become unavailable soon after.
Keep a note of the hours in your trading journal and compare results by time of day rather than relying on general rules.

No session makes the direction predictable. Payouts are below 100%, so you need to win more than half of your trades to break even at any hour. Trade only money you can afford to lose.

Frequently asked questions

What time does the forex market open on Sunday?

Around 21:00–22:00 UTC on Sunday, with the start of the Asia-Pacific session. The exact hour shifts with daylight saving time.

What is the best time to trade forex?

The London–New York overlap is usually the most active, but more activity means larger moves in both directions, not easier trades. The right hours depend on what you're trying to do.

Why can I trade OTC on weekends but not EUR/USD?

EUR/USD on Sky Trade uses real quotes, which stop at the weekend. OTC prices are generated by Sky Trade's server around the clock and do not follow the real market.