Forex Trading Hours: When Best to Trade

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As an investor who wants to maximize profits, you must know when the best forex trading hours are.  In general, the best trading hours are those that have the most activity and volatility. When more traders become active, the trading spreads (which are the difference between the bid price and the ask price) tend to be really small.  That means less of your money goes to the market maker, which is the specialist who trades Trade Spot Gold and Silver the currency in question.

Major Exchanges and Volatility

Being an active trader is always one that can give you better trading experiences Deposit and Withdrawals, regardless of which market you trade on, be it the forex market, the NYSE, or any other financial markets.  However, for forex traders, there’s one additional good reason for them to trade more actively: volatility.

Volatility and volume increase tremendously when more than one of the major exchanges is open. The four major exchanges around the world are found in New York, London, Singapore, and Tokyo.  

Even if investors oftentimes are wary of volatile markets, volatility, which is the level and rate at which an equity or currency price fluctuates, is generally good news for traders.  That’s because without volatility, prices stay constant and trading cannot be profitable.

As we all know, risks and rewards come together. Volatility comes with risks, but also with rewards.

Global Forex Market Hours

The forex market sports fifteen independent exchanges from around the world.  And all of these exchanges are open five days a week, from Monday to Friday. Every exchange has unique trading hours.

However, from a trader’s perspective, the four most important exchanges have the following hours (Eastern Standard Time)

  • London: 3am to 12pm [noon]
  • New York: 8am to 5pm
  • Singapore: 3pm to 12am [midnight]
  • Tokyo: 7pm to 4am

Best Forex Trading Hours

Looking at the market hours above, there certainly are overlaps.  Trading hours on major exchanges take place in two markets at the same time.

  • New York/London both open at 8am to 12pm [noon]
  • New York/Singapore both open at 3pm to 5pm
  • Tokyo and Sydney both open at 7pm to 12am [midnight]
  • Tokyo and London both open at 3am to 4am

These four overlapping trading hours are the best trading hours.  For many, the most preferable trading time is from 8am to noon when both New York and London are open.  That’s because these two trading centers account for over 50 percent of all trades on all the 15 exchanges worldwide.

“Best” doesn’t always equate to “profitable,” however.

If you’re just a rookie in the forex market, it is highly advised to proceed with great care.  Currency trading involves the use of leverage, sometimes as high as 1000 to 1 leverage rate. This gives you a chance for a really huge win, but also puts you at risk of a tremendous loss.

You can open a forex account at a firm that offers newbie traders to trade on a demo trading account, where you can get the feel of the forex market and test the waters with compromising your money and capital.

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