Forex Market Hours Clock (Session Times)

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Global Market Overview

Understanding the Four Forex Trading Sessions

The forex market runs 24 hours a day, five days a week, because it's split across four major global trading centres. Each session has its own personality, volatility profile, and favoured currency pairs. Knowing which session you're trading in is a key part of reading the market correctly.

Sydney Session

The first session to open each trading week. Liquidity is thinner here than the other three sessions, so moves can be choppier and ranges tighter.

Best suited to AUD and NZD pairs, and often used to gauge risk sentiment heading into the Asian session.

08:00–17:00 Sydney

Tokyo Session

The main Asian session. Volume is dominated by JPY crosses and regional flows out of China, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

Ranges tend to be tighter than London or New York, which makes it popular for range-based strategies rather than breakouts.

09:00–18:00 Tokyo

London Session

The largest and most liquid session, responsible for the majority of daily forex turnover. This is where most of the day's directional moves get set.

GBP, EUR, and CHF pairs see their highest volatility here. Many supply & demand zones form or get respected during this window.

08:00–17:00 London

New York Session

Overlaps with the back half of London, driving the most active liquidity window of the day. US data releases (NFP, CPI, FOMC) land here.

USD pairs and indices see the sharpest moves. Trend continuations or reversals from the London session often play out now.

08:00–17:00 New York

Key Market Overlaps & Best Times to Trade

Overlaps happen when two sessions are open at the same time. This is when liquidity and volatility are highest, which is generally when the cleanest supply & demand moves and trend continuations occur.

Tokyo – London Overlap~08:00–09:00 London

A short window, but it's often where the Asian range gets broken as European volume enters. Worth watching for early liquidity grabs.

London – New York Overlap13:00–17:00 London

The highest-liquidity window of the trading day. Most major daily moves, breakouts, and trend continuations happen here.

Sydney – Tokyo Overlap08:00–09:00 Tokyo

Lower volatility, but useful for gauging early sentiment on AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY crosses heading into the Asian session.

Rule of thumb: if you're trading a strategy that needs momentum and volume — like S&D zone breaks or trend continuations — the London and London/New York overlap windows are usually the highest-probability times to be watching your charts. Thin sessions like Sydney and late New York are better suited to patience and range strategies.

Key Resources

Go deeper on session timing, supply & demand, and the tools built to trade around these hours.

Forex Market Hours Clock