Question about trading hours

From my understanding the forex market is open 24 hours, but on baby pips it talk about trading sessions. If the market is open 24 hours can I trade GBP/USD at 8:30PM EST, Even though the USD london markets are closed. OR is it because those are the best times to trade because the markets are open.

Trading Sessions | When Can You Trade Forex? | Learn Forex Trading

Thanks

The jargon can be a bit confusing, because it sounds contradictory.

Regarding the worldwide, electronically-traded retail forex market, we typically say: it’s a 24-hour-per-day market, which opens on Monday morning in New Zealand and remains open until Friday afternoon in New York. It’s often referred to as a 24/5 market, because it’s open 24 hours per day for roughly 5 days per week.

But then, on the other hand, we say that the market [B]opens[/B] and [B]closes[/B] at a specific time each day, in each country. Sounds like a contradiction. How can this be? Well, the [B]opening[/B] and [B]closing[/B] does not refer to forex trading, per se — rather, it refers to [B]the normal business day.[/B]

Forex is traded to some extent in virtually every country and region of the world, with the possible exception of North Korea. But, several countries and regions dominate forex trading, and we normally refer to them as [B]forex markets[/B]. They are (in geographical order from east to west, following the sun): Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, the 15 (or so) countries comprising central Europe, Great Britain, the U.S. and Canada.

These important forex-trading countries and regions are grouped into three major geographical areas: Asia, Europe and North America. Forex trading volume is significant in each of these areas, but it is not constant throughout the day. In each area, forex trading volume is very low overnight; it increases dramatically in the early morning, peaking between 9am and 11am, local time; it declines steadily in the afternoon; and it returns to a very low level as the overnight period advances.

This trading-volume pattern roughly mirrors the pattern of business activity during the normal business day in each of these areas — that is, when banks, stock exchanges and businesses are open, forex volume is high. This is loosely referred to as the forex market being [B]open[/B] in that country or region.

To further confuse matters, it’s common to refer to specific times when various forex markets [B]open[/B] and [B]close[/B]. The times most commonly cited are 8am (for the open) and 5pm (for the close), local time.

All of this creates the false impression that there is a [B]market[/B] in each country or region, which functions like an exchange, with an opening bell, and a closing bell, with all trading occurring between the [B]open[/B] and the [B]close[/B]. But, this simply is not the case.

Finally, in each of the 3 major trading areas (Asia, Europe and North America) this so-called 9-hour [B]open[/B] period (from 8am to 5pm, local time) is referred to as a [B]trading session[/B].

So, we have the [B]Asian Session[/B], the [B]European Session[/B] and the [B]North American Session[/B].

The Asian Session is often called the [B]Tokyo Session[/B]. The European Session is ofter called the [B]London Session[/B]. And the North American Session is often called the [B]New York Session[/B]. The reason for this is simply trading volume: Japan does more forex trading volume than any other country in Asia, and most of it occurs in Tokyo. Great Britain does more forex trading volume than [I]any country in the world[/I], and almost all of it occurs in London. And the U.S. does more forex trading volume than either Canada or Mexico, and most of the U.S. volume occurs in New York.

Additionally, the major banks comprising the worldwide interbank network have offices and trading rooms in various locations around the world, but typically in — you guessed it — Tokyo, London and New York.

If you place a trade via the internet at 8pm, New York time, that trade will likely wind up on the trading desk of a bank in Tokyo. If you wait until 4am, New York time, to place that trade, it will likely wind up at a bank in London. And if you place that trade at noon, New York time, it will most likely be handled by a bank in New York.

A bank operating offices in Tokyo, London and New York typically passes its order book from office to office, as the business day closes in one locale and opens in the next. The order book follows the sun, around the world.

Time zones and time conversions can be a mess. But, you should take a shot at determining for yourself what time — in your time zone — each of the three major Sessions [B]opens[/B] and [B]closes[/B]. If you run into trouble, come back and get some help here.

Here’s an hour-by-hour list of what’s going on around the world in a 24-hour period —

http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/34894-24-hour-forex-trading-day-updated.html#post230429

Lastly, all the forex volume for all the countries of the world feeds into one electronic market, which never closes (except for weekends). So, it’s usefull to know how worldwide forex trading volume varies throughout the 24-hour trading day. In the near future, I hope to post the results of a study I’ve been doing for about 2 years on this question.

For now, I can tell you that [B]world forex volume[/B] reaches its daily peak between 9am and 10am, New York time. During that one hour, 9% (on average) of the world’s total daily volume is transacted. The lowest volume hour is 5pm - 6pm, New York time, when 1½% (on average) of world volume occurs.