UK forex market hours: popular times to trade FX

When is the forex market open?

The forex market has no central exchange and no fixed opening bell. It operates across a continuous relay of four major financial centres: Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York. As each centre's business day ends, the next takes over, creating a 24-hour weekday market that runs from Sunday evening to Friday evening. The market closes between Friday at 10pm UK time and Sunday at 10pm UK time in standard conditions, with Christmas Day and New Year's Day as additional closures.

For UK traders, all times convert relative to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) in winter and British Summer Time (BST, GMT+1) in summer. The silver trading hours guide illustrates how commodity market sessions follow a similar global relay pattern, with liquidity concentrating at session overlaps.

Forex trading hours in UK time (GMT and BST)

Note: London's UK time is the same year-round (8am-5pm) because when the UK shifts to BST in summer, other time zones also shift, keeping the local London business hours consistent for UK traders. What changes is the relationship with UTC. Sydney daylight saving runs opposite to the UK's, causing its UK-time hours to shift between seasons. Times above are sourced from CompareForexBrokers.co.uk (August 2026).

The London session: Europe's forex hub

London is the world's largest forex centre by turnover. The London session, running from 8am to 5pm UK time, handles the deepest liquidity and tightest spreads of any session. It overlaps briefly with Tokyo in its opening hour and with New York from 1pm to 5pm, giving London the distinction of being the only session that bridges two other major sessions.

The most actively traded currency pairs during the London session are EUR/USD, GBP/USD and EUR/GBP, reflecting European and UK economic data releases that land in the morning hours: Eurozone PMIs, UK CPI, German IFO business sentiment and Bank of England decisions all drive sharp intraday moves. The London open at 8am is often one of the most volatile moments of the trading day, as European traders respond to overnight developments from Asia and the US markets.

Currency trading during the London session is distinct from other asset classes. The US stock market hours only partially overlap with the London forex session (from 2:30pm UK time when the NYSE opens), whereas the forex market runs continuously from the London open through to the New York close at 10pm.

The New York session: dollar dominance

New York is the second-largest forex centre by turnover. Its session runs from 1pm to 10pm UK time in winter (2pm to 11pm BST in summer). The US dollar is involved in over 85% of all forex transactions, making US economic data releases the most market-moving scheduled events in global forex. Non-farm payrolls (first Friday of each month), FOMC rate decisions, CPI and GDP releases all fall within the New York session window and routinely move EUR/USD by 50-100 pips or more in minutes.

For UK traders, the New York session is entirely tradeable within a standard working evening. Many UK-based traders specifically target the New York session for its data-driven volatility on major dollar pairs. Overnight positions in the New York session are subject to swap/rollover charges that begin at 10pm UK time when the daily calculation is made.

The London-New York overlap: the most active window

The London-New York overlap, running from 1pm to 5pm UK time in winter (2pm to 6pm BST in summer), is the most liquid and actively traded window in global forex. Both the world's two largest financial centres are simultaneously open, combining European and North American institutional order flow. Dukascopy's forex market hours analysis indicates this window generates 50-60% of intraday forex volatility.

EUR/USD average true range during the overlap can be 80-120 pips, compared with 40 pips during solo sessions. This wider movement creates both greater opportunity and greater risk. For UK spread bettors and CFD traders, the overlap window typically offers the tightest spreads on major pairs. The overlap is when US economic data is most likely to release (typically 1:30pm-3pm UK time for major releases), creating sharp, well-defined moves that technical and fundamental traders can both engage with.

The Tokyo session: Asian liquidity

The Tokyo session runs from midnight to 9am UK time in winter (1am to 10am BST in summer). It is the smallest of the four major sessions by turnover and is characterised by lower volatility than London or New York. The Japanese yen (JPY) pairs dominate activity: USD/JPY, EUR/JPY and AUD/JPY see their peak relative liquidity during Tokyo hours. Bank of Japan rate decisions and Japanese economic data move JPY pairs significantly during this session.

For UK traders, the Tokyo session runs overnight. Positions held through Tokyo hours are subject to the daily swap calculation at 10pm. Many UK retail traders prefer to close positions before the overnight period to avoid swap costs, particularly on positions that have reached their profit target during the London or New York sessions. The gold futures market is another market where Asian session dynamics influence pricing, given gold's role as a safe-haven asset and the significant participation of Asian central banks and investors.

Best time to trade forex for UK traders

The optimal trading window depends on the currency pairs and strategy:

Forex market hours FAQs