Forex market hours converted to your local time
This tool shows forex market hours in your own time zone, and it marks which of the four main sessions is open right now. Forex runs from Sunday 22:00 UTC to Friday 22:00 UTC, and the busiest window runs from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC, when London and New York overlap.
Updated . Rates come from a live mid-market feed.
Your time zone: UTC
- Sydney22:00 – 07:00Closed
- Tokyo00:00 – 09:00Closed
- London08:00 – 17:00Open now
- New York13:00 – 22:00Open now
London–New York overlap in your time: 13:00 – 17:00. Session times are shown in UTC-based standard hours; London and New York shift by one hour during daylight saving.
How the session times work
Sessions are set in UTC standard time: Sydney 22:00 to 07:00, Tokyo 00:00 to 09:00, London 08:00 to 17:00 and New York 13:00 to 22:00. Your browser's time zone converts them to local time and marks those open now. The market closes from Friday 22:00 UTC to Sunday 22:00 UTC.
Daylight saving moves London and New York an hour earlier for much of the year, and Sydney shifts in the opposite season. African cities mostly keep the same time all year, so these sessions appear to shift for you in March and again in October.
Forex market hours therefore need a second look at those 2 points in the year.
The best time to trade forex
The London and New York overlap carries the deepest liquidity on major pairs, so spreads tend to be tightest then. In standard time, that is 14:00 to 18:00 in Lagos, 15:00 to 19:00 in Johannesburg, 16:00 to 20:00 in Nairobi and 13:00 to 17:00 in Accra.
Quiet periods cost you more. Rollover around 21:00 to 23:00 UTC usually shows the widest spreads of the day. See how costs compare on our low spread shortlist, and read the session notes in each of our guides for Nigeria and Kenya.
Those 4 hours suit a short daily session.
That window covers about 4 hours each weekday.
Which pairs move in which session
Each session favours certain currencies. AUD and NZD pairs are most active during Sydney, JPY pairs and Asian indices during Tokyo, and EUR, GBP, CHF pairs and gold during London. USD pairs and oil pick up in New York, especially around US data releases at 12:30 or 13:30 UTC.
Rand pairs tend to move most during European and early US hours. Choose a session you can watch without distraction, and match your pair to it. Our forex broker rankings list which brokers carry the pairs you plan to trade, since African-currency coverage is thin.
Forex market hours also explain why some pairs barely move for much of the day.
Market hours questions
What time does the forex market open?
It opens on Sunday at 22:00 UTC with the Sydney session and closes on Friday at 22:00 UTC with New York. That is 23:00 on Sunday in Lagos, midnight in Johannesburg, 01:00 on Monday in Nairobi and 22:00 on Sunday in Accra.
Is forex open on weekends?
No. Spot forex closes from Friday 22:00 UTC to Sunday 22:00 UTC, though prices can gap at the reopening. Some brokers offer crypto CFDs or synthetic products such as Deriv's Derived Indices on weekends, and those run on their own rules.
What is the best time to trade forex in Africa?
For most traders, the London and New York overlap, because major pairs have the most liquidity and the lowest spreads. That falls in the afternoon or early evening across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Ghana on standard-time dates.