Forex Market Hours: When Does the Forex Market Open?

The forex market runs 24 hours a day, five days a week — but it isn't equally busy at all hours, and knowing the rhythm helps you trade when it's cheapest and most liquid.

A 24/5 market

Because currencies trade in financial centres around the world, the market opens Monday morning in Sydney and stays open continuously until the New York close on Friday evening. It's closed over the weekend (with rare exceptions), and price can gap when it reopens.

The four sessions

Trading rolls around the globe through four main sessions:

• Sydney — opens the week.
• Tokyo (Asian) — most active for JPY and AUD pairs.
• London (European) — the largest session by volume.
• New York (US) — overlaps the back half of London.

The overlaps matter most

Liquidity and movement peak when two sessions are open at once:

• London / New York overlap — the busiest window of the day: deepest liquidity, tightest spreads, biggest moves.
• Tokyo / London overlap — a smaller secondary pickup.

For most traders, the London/NY overlap is prime time; the quiet hours between sessions are where spreads widen.

A note on times and weekends

Session times shift with daylight saving, so think in terms of the centres (London, New York) rather than fixed clock times, and confirm the exact hours with your broker. And remember the weekend gap: news over the weekend can move price before you can react at the Monday open.

New to all this? Start with What is forex trading?