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Forex Market Hours: Sessions and Overlaps
The forex market opens at 5:00 pm ET on Sunday and closes at 5:00 pm ET on Friday, trading 24 hours a day in between. In EST, the four sessions run Sydney 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tokyo 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., London 3 a.m. to noon, and New York 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Investopedia, retrieved 2026-10-13).
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This schedule is public, fixed, and known in advance: one of the few things in trading that is published before it happens. The clock says when the market has volume and when it is thin; the firm-level timers that consume that clock, from the trading day to the payout cycle, are a separate question, covered in prop firm account clocks explained.
What time does the forex market open and close?
The forex market runs in four trading sessions. In EST terms, Investopedia lists the session windows as Sydney 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tokyo 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., London 3 a.m. to noon, and New York 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Investopedia, retrieved 2026-10-13). Each session hands liquidity to the next as one financial centre closes and another opens, which is why price never stops moving on weekdays.
The four sessions and their standard EST windows
The four windows in standard EST, verified 2026-10-13:
| Session | Standard EST window |
|---|---|
| Sydney | 5:00 pm to 2:00 am |
| Tokyo | 7:00 pm to 4:00 am |
| London | 3:00 am to 12:00 pm |
| New York | 8:00 am to 5:00 pm |
Investopedia notes these windows shift by an hour when daylight saving changes, so double-check the current offset before scheduling trades around them, and keep a dated copy of any rule that depends on session times, the same habit we recommend for saving prop firm rules before paying.
When the trading week starts and ends: Sunday 5 pm ET to Friday 5 pm ET
OANDA describes the trading-week sequence in EST: the week begins with the Sydney session at 5:00 PM EST on Sunday, the Tokyo session starts at 7:00 PM EST, the London session commences at 3:00 AM EST, and the New York session opens at 8:00 AM EST (OANDA, retrieved 2026-10-13). That Sunday open is the true weekly starting line: the first candles of the week form in Sydney, and liquidity builds progressively from there.
The market is open 24 hours a day during the weekdays; it technically never closes, but retail traders can only trade between Sunday 5:00 pm ET and Friday 5:00 pm ET (BabyPips, retrieved 2026-10-13). Outside that window there is no retail trading at all. For prop traders, this weekly clock matters twice over: once for trade timing, and once for the firm's rules on weekend holding, covered further down.
Which session overlap produces the most volume and movement?
The highest trading volume occurs during the overlap of the London and New York trading sessions; more than 50% of trading volume takes place at these two financial centres, as BabyPips states (BabyPips, retrieved 2026-10-13). Investopedia identifies the 8 a.m. to noon U.S./London overlap as the heaviest window (Investopedia, retrieved 2026-10-13).
The London and New York overlap: where more than 50% of volume trades
London runs 3 a.m. to noon EST and New York runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, so the two cited windows intersect between 8 a.m. and noon: the window Investopedia calls the heaviest. The volume figures above are the measurable content of that statement: they describe where the trades are, not what any individual account will earn. What a firm requires before it allows a withdrawal is a separate rule surface, covered in prop firm withdrawal requirements. The ledger's volume figures describe the overlap window; it carries no figures for the Tokyo and Sydney hours, and that absence is where a stop loss slippage buffer and how to check a prop firm spread become relevant reading.
To make the table above usable per pair, we mapped each major pair to the sessions its legs belong to (our own aggregation of the session times cited above: no new data sources, no behaviour claims):
- EUR/USD, GBP/USD: the legs belong to London and New York hours, so the overlap window is when both sessions are active.
- USD/JPY: one leg belongs to Tokyo hours, the other to New York hours; each session brings its own window.
- AUD/USD: one leg belongs to Sydney hours, the other to New York hours.
- Crosses (EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY): each leg keeps the session of its home currency.
The pattern the ledger supports: volume concentrates in specific, nameable windows, mostly the London session and its overlap with New York.
Why does the weekend close matter for open trades and payouts?
Friday 5 pm ET is a hard boundary. Whatever position you hold at that moment gets carried through roughly two days of zero trading: no liquidity, no way to exit, no stop execution until Sunday's Sydney open.
Friday 5 pm ET: what the hard close means for positions you still hold
A position held at the close stays held: there is no exit until Sunday's Sydney open, and the price that greets it then is not guaranteed to be the price it closed at. That exposure, not the clock itself, is why holding through a weekend exists as a rule question at all; firms answer it in their own documents, and the market calendar only supplies the boundary.
Session gaps and why broker "always open" claims are only technically true
The market trades 24 hours a day on weekdays, but retail traders can only trade between Sunday 5:00 pm ET and Friday 5:00 pm ET, and the ledger says nothing about liquidity being constant inside that window: its volume figures cover London and the overlap, and no others. "Always open" describes the clock, not the conditions. For scheduling, the windows named above are the measurable reference this ledger supports.
Verified facts at a glance
| Fact from the research ledger | Source |
|---|---|
| In EST terms, Investopedia lists the session windows as Sydney 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tokyo 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., London 3 a.m. to noon, and New York 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Investopedia |
| OANDA describes the trading-week sequence in EST: Sydney opens the week at 5:00 PM EST on Sunday, Tokyo starts at 7:00 PM EST, London commences at 3:00 AM EST, and New York opens at 8:00 AM EST. | OANDA |
| The highest trading volume occurs during the London and New York overlap; more than 50% of trading volume takes place at these two financial centres. | BabyPips |
| The forex market is open 24 hours a day during the weekdays; retail traders can only trade between Sunday 5:00 pm ET and Friday 5:00 pm ET. | BabyPips |
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers about this topic.
What time does the forex market open?
The forex week opens with the Sydney session at 5:00 PM EST on Sunday, followed by Tokyo at 7:00 PM EST, London at 3:00 AM EST, and New York at 8:00 AM EST as the week builds. Source: OANDA.
What are the four forex sessions?
The four sessions are Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. In EST terms, Investopedia lists their windows as Sydney 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Tokyo 7 p.m. to 4 a.m., London 3 a.m. to noon, and New York 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Source: Investopedia.
What is the best time to trade forex?
The London and New York overlap: more than 50% of trading volume takes place at these two financial centres, and Investopedia identifies the 8 a.m. to noon U.S./London window as the heaviest overlap. Source: BabyPips and Investopedia.
Is the forex market open on weekends?
No, not for retail traders. The market trades 24 hours a day on weekdays, but retail traders can only trade between Sunday 5:00 pm ET and Friday 5:00 pm ET. Source: BabyPips.
When does the forex trading week start?
The trading week begins with the Sydney session at 5:00 PM EST on Sunday, followed in sequence by Tokyo, London and New York as the first trading day unfolds. Source: OANDA.
Sources
- Forex Market Trading Hours: The Most Profitable Sessions | Investopedia investopedia.com Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- When is the Best Time for Forex Trading? | OANDA oanda.com Retrieved 2026-10-13.
- Forex Market Hours - Forex Market Time Converter | BabyPips.com babypips.com Retrieved 2026-10-13.