The 24-Hour Forex Trading Day

I like to be able to click on one file on my desktop, and see what’s happening in any of the forex markets, at any time of day. So, if I sit down at the computer at 8pm Sunday evening, or 4am Tuesday morning, or midnight Thursday, I can see at a glance whether the business day has begun (or ended) in Japan, whether the stock exchange is open in London, or whether the banks are open across Europe.

I couldn’t find a list of all this stuff anywhere, so I had to create the list myself. I call it The 24-Hour Forex Trading Day, and I’ll post it here, in case anyone else finds it to be useful. It will be a very long post, because it covers 20 countries. In fact, I had to edit it three times to get under the 15,000-character size limit for posts on this Forum.

Do with it what you will. The 24-Hour Forex Trading Day lists 79 “events” occuring in a 24-hour period, using the GMT time-zone as a universal reference time. If you want to use this list in your trading, you might consider copying and pasting it into your Notepad (or other convenient location) where you can convert the times to your particular time-zone, and then park the file on your desktop.

Later today or tomorrow, I’ll post the 24-Hour Forex Trading Day here.

Clint


This Table has been superseded by a new Table on a new thread.

Here is a link to the new Table — 301 Moved Permanently


[B]The 24-Hour Forex Trading Day — SUMMER 2009 — (Sunday, April 5 - Friday, September 25)[/B]


ASIAN/PACIFIC SESSION begins at 20:00 GMT ------ (North American/Asian overlap: 20:00 - 21:00 GMT)


[B]20:00 New Zealand[/B]: business day begins (8am NZST).

[B]21:00 New Zealand[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (9am NZST).

------ [B]U.S. and Canada[/B]: business day ends (5pm EDT)

[B]22:00 Australia[/B]: business day begins (8am AEST).

[B]22:45 New Zealand[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 10:45am NZST).

[B]23:00 Japan and Korea[/B]: business day begins (8am local time).

[B]23:30 Australia[/B]: banks open (9:30am AEST).

[B]23:50 Japan[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 8:50am JST).

[B]00:00 Australia[/B]: stock exchange opens (10am AEST).

------ [B]Japan[/B]: stock exchanges and banks open (9am JST).

------ [B]Korea[/B]: stock exchange opens (9am KST).

------ [B]Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan[/B]: business day begins (8am local time).

[B]00:30 Korea[/B]: banks open (9:30am KST).

------ [B]Singapore[/B]: stock exchange opens (8:30am SGT).

[B]01:00 Taiwan[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (9am CST).

[B]01:30 Australia[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 11:30am AEST).

------ [B]Singapore[/B]: banks open (9:30am SGT).

[B]02:00 Japan[/B]: stock exchanges (Tokyo and Osaka) close for 90 minutes (from 11am to 12:30pm JST).

------ [B]Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (10am HKT).

[B]03:30 Japan[/B]: stock exchanges re-open (12:30pm JST).

[B]04:00 New Zealand[/B]: stock exchange closes (4pm NZST).

[B]04:30 New Zealand[/B]: banks close (4:30pm NZST).

------ [B]Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange closes for 2 hours (from 12:30pm to 2:30pm HKT).

[B]05:00 New Zealand[/B]: business day ends (5pm NZST).

[B]05:30 Taiwan[/B]: stock exchange closes (1:30pm CST).

[B]05:45 Switzerland[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 7:45am CEST).


EUROPEAN SESSION begins at 06:00 GMT ------ (Asian/European overlap: 06:00 - 09:00 GMT)


[B]06:00 Central Europe[/B]: business day begins (8am CEST).

------ [B]Italy[/B]: stock exchange opens (8am CEST).

------ [B]Spain and Norway[/B]: banks open (8am CEST).

------ [B]Australia[/B]: stock exchange and banks close (4pm AEST).

------ [B]Japan[/B]: stock exchanges and banks close (3pm JST).

------ [B]Korea[/B]: stock exchange closes (3pm KST).

[B]06:30 Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange re-opens (2:30pm HKT).

------ [B]Switzerland and Italy[/B]: banks open (8:30am CEST).

------ [B]Spain[/B]: stock exchange opens (8:30am CEST).

[B]07:00 Australia[/B]: business day ends (5pm AEST).

------ [B]Singapore[/B]: banks close (3pm SGT).

------ [B]U.K[/B].: business day begins and stock exchange opens (8am BST).

------ [B]Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark and Norway[/B]: stock exchanges open (9am CEST).

------ [B]Germany, France, Belgium and Netherlands[/B]: banks open (9am CEST).

[B]07:10 Switzerland[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 9:10am CEST).

[B]07:15 Switzerland[/B]: stock exchange opens (9:15am CEST).

[B]07:30 Korea and Taiwan[/B]: banks close (4:30pm KST and 3:30pm CST).

------ [B]Sweden[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (9:30am CEST).

[B]08:00 Japan and Korea[/B]: business day ends (5pm local time).

------ [B]Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange and banks close (4pm HKT).

------ [B]U.K. and Denmark[/B]: banks open (9am BST and 10am CEST).

------ [B]Euro-zone[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 10am CEST).

[B]08:30 U.K[/B].: economic data (news) released (typically 9:30am BST).

[B]09:00 Singapore[/B]: stock exchange closes and the business day ends (5pm SGT).

------ [B]Hong Kong and Taiwan[/B]: business day ends (5pm local time).

------ [B]Euro-zone[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 11am CEST).

[B]11:00 Canada[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 7am EDT)


NORTH AMERICAN SESSION begins at 12:00 GMT ------ (European/North American overlap: 12:00 - 16:00 GMT)


[B]12:00 U.S. and Canada[/B]: business day begins (8am EDT)

------ [B]Spain[/B]: banks close (2pm CEST).

[B]12:30 U.S. and Canada[/B]: economic data (news) released (8:30am EDT)

[B]13:00 Sweden[/B]: banks close (3pm CEST).

------ [B]U.S[/B].: banks open (9am EST)

[B]13:30 Norway[/B]: banks close (3:30pm CEST).

------ [B]U.S. and Canada[/B]: stock exchanges open (9:30am EDT)

------ [B]Canada[/B]: banks open (9:30am EDT)

[B]14:00 Germany, Italy, Belgium and Denmark[/B]: banks close (4pm CEST).

------ [B]U.S. and Canada[/B]: economic data (news) released (10am EDT)

[B]14:30 France and Switzerland[/B]: banks close (4:30pm CEST).

------ [B]Norway[/B]: stock exchange closes (4:30pm CEST).

[B]15:00 U.K. and Netherlands[/B]: banks close (4pm BST and 5pm CEST).

------ [B]Denmark[/B]: stock exchange closes (5pm CEST).

[B]15:30 U.K[/B].: stock exchange closes (4:30pm BST).

------ [B]France, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden[/B]: stock exchanges close (5:30pm CEST).

[B]15:35 Spain[/B]: stock exchange closes (5:35pm CEST).

[B]15:40 Italy[/B]: stock exchange closes (5:40pm CEST).

[B]16:00 U.K[/B].: business day ends (5pm BST)

------ [B]Central Europe[/B]: business day ends (6pm CEST) except German stock exchange.

[B]18:00 Germany[/B]: stock exchange (Deutsche Boerse) closes (8pm CEST).

[B]19:00 U.S[/B].: banks close (3pm EDT)

[B]20:00 Asian/Pacific region[/B]: a new business day begins in New Zealand (8am NZST).

------ [B]U.S. and Canada[/B]: stock exchanges close (4pm EDT)

[B]20:30 Canada[/B]: banks close (4:30pm EDT)

[B]21:00 U.S. and Canada[/B]: business day ends (5pm EDT)


Notes

  1. Nominal 8am-5pm business hours are shown for most countries in the table, above. These nominal business hours represent a general rule, but there are local exceptions.

  2. Bank hours shown are for retail banks, which typically close overnight in all countries. The largest commercial banks, which handle almost all spot forex volume, maintain 24-hour trading desks, and therefore never close (with the possible exception of the weekend hours from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, plus certain holidays).

  3. Times shown for the release of economic data (news) are the most frequently occuring times, but are not the only times. Refer to the forex news calendar provided by Forex Factory (Forex Calendar @ Forex Factory), or other sources, for a complete list of news releases for 7 major markets for the current week.

  4. Stock exchange opening and closing times were obtained from the World Federation of Exchanges (http://www.world-exchanges.org/WFE/home.Asp?nav=ie). The WFE is the trade organization for regulated securities and derivatives markets and their clearing houses; as such, it is the definitive source for information on these financial institutions. And its updated website is greatly improved.

  5. The stock exchanges referenced in the table are:

    New Zealand Exchange, Ltd. (NZX);  Major index: NZX 50
    Australian Securities Exchange (ASX);  Major index: S&P/ASX 200 
    
    Tokyo Stock Exchange Group, Inc. (TSE);  Major index: Nikkei 225
    Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE)
    Singapore Exchange (SGX);  Major index: Straits Times Index
    Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKX);  Major index: Hang Seng
    Korea Exchange (KRX);  Major index: KRX 100
    Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE);  Major index: TAIEX
    
    Deutsche Boerse, AG (Germany);  Major index: XETRA DAX
    NYSE Euronext (Belgium, France, Netherlands and Portugal);  Major index: CAC 40 (France)
    SIX Swiss Exchange (SWX);  Major index: SMI
    BME Spanish Exchanges (BME)
    Borsa Italiana SpA (Italy);  Major index: S&P/MIB
    Nasdaq OMX (OMX) (Denmark and Sweden);  Major index: NDAQ
    Oslo Bors, ASA (Norway);  Major index: OSEBX
    London Stock Exchange (LSE);  Major index: FTSE 100
    
    TMX Group (Toronto Stock Exchange - TSX);  Major index: S&P/TSX Composite
    NYSE Euronext (New York Stock Exchange - NYSE);  Major index: DJIA
    Nasdaq OMX (Nasdaq Stock Market - NASDAQ);  Major index: NASDAQ 100
    
  6. Time zones referenced in the table are:

    NZST -  New Zealand Standard Time  (GMT + 12 hours)
    AEST -  Australian Eastern Standard Time  (GMT + 10 hours)
    JST  -  Japanese Standard Time  (GMT + 9 hours)
    KST  -  Korean Standard Time  (GMT + 9 hours)
    SGT  -  Singapore Time  (GMT + 8 hours)
    HKT  -  Hong Kong Time  (GMT + 8 hours)
    CST  -  Chinese Standard Time (Taiwan)  (GMT + 8 hours)
    CEST -  Central European Summer Time  (GMT + 2 hour)
    BST  -  British Summer Time  (GMT + 1 hour)
    EDT  -  U.S./Canadian Eastern Daylight Time  (GMT - 4 hours)
    
  7. Times shown in the left column of the table are GMT. Please make the appropriate conversions for your own time zone.

  8. Errors? Contact me via Private Message.


Even though this thread was started about 5 months ago, I just registered on this forum (which I have been lurking on for awhile now :)) to thank the OP for this very comprehensive FOREX market hours list, which I have trying to find on the net for some time now.

Thanks again Clint!

[B]M1G, [/B]

I’m glad you found this listing to be useful.

Beginning in two weeks, most of the times shown will change, as many countries go onto, or off of, Daylight Saving Time.
Here is the schedule:

Sunday, September 27 — New Zealand goes onto southern hemisphere DST

Sunday, October 4 ------- southeastern Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, etc.) goes onto southern hemisphere DST

Sunday, October 25 ------ Europe and the U.K. return to Standard Time

Sunday, November 1 ----- Canada and the U.S. return to Standard Time

I will not post changes to this listing on the first three dates above. So, from Sunday, September 27 through Friday, October 30, you will have to make your own revisions to the listing.

But, after the dust settles on the weekend of October 30, I will post a new listing which will be current from Sunday,
November 1, 2009 through Friday, March 12, 2010.

Then, beginning on Sunday, March 14, 2010, another series of changes will take us back to the (northern hemisphere) summer schedule.

Clint

invaluable! I printed this out, great reference.

The [B]24-Hour Forex Trading Day[/B] posted here in April (post #2 on this thread) is out-of-date.

I have revised the dates and times, and will post an updated Table in a few hours.

Very useful and comprehensive list. I will wait for the updated information. Thank you so much.

Regards,
Muthu.


This Table has been superseded by a new Table on a new thread.

Here is a link to the new Table — 301 Moved Permanently


[B]The 24-Hour Forex Trading Day — WINTER 2009/10 — Sunday, November 1, 2009 - Friday, March 12, 2010[/B]


ASIAN/PACIFIC SESSION begins at 19:00 GMT ------ (North American/Asian overlap: 19:00 - 22:00 GMT)


[B]19:00 New Zealand[/B]: business day begins (8am NZDT)

[B]20:00 New Zealand[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (9am NZDT)

[B]21:00 Australia[/B]: business day begins (8am AEDT)

[B]21:45 New Zealand[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 10:45am NZDT)
[B]
22:00 U.S. and Canada[/B]: business day ends (5pm EST)

[B]22:30 Australia[/B]: banks open (9:30am AEDT)

[B]23:00 Japan and Korea[/B]: business day begins (8am local time)

------ [B]Australia[/B]: stock exchange opens (10am AEDT)

[B]23:50 Japan[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 8:50am JST)

[B]00:00 Japan[/B]: stock exchanges and banks open (9am JST)

------ [B]Korea[/B]: stock exchange opens (9am KST)

------ [B]Singapore[/B], [B]Hong Kong[/B] and [B]Taiwan[/B]: business day begins (8am local time)

[B]00:30 Korea[/B]: banks open (9:30am KST)

------ [B]Singapore[/B]: stock exchange opens (8:30am SGT)

------ [B]Australia[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 11:30am AEDT)

[B]01:00 Taiwan[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (9am CST)

[B]01:30 Singapore[/B]: banks open (9:30am SGT)

[B]02:00 Japan[/B]: stock exchanges (Tokyo and Osaka) close for 90 minutes (from 11am to 12:30pm JST)

------ [B]Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (10am HKT)

[B]03:00 New Zealand[/B]: stock exchange closes (4pm NZDT)

[B]03:30 New Zealand[/B]: banks close (4:30pm NZDT)

------ [B]Japan[/B]: stock exchanges re-open (12:30pm JST)

[B]04:00 New Zealand[/B]: business day ends (5pm NZDT)

[B]04:30 Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange closes for 2 hours (from 12:30pm to 2:30pm HKT)

[B]05:00 Australia[/B]: stock exchange and banks close (4pm AEDT)

[B]05:30 Taiwan[/B]: stock exchange closes (1:30pm CST)

[B]06:00 Japan[/B]: stock exchanges and banks close (3pm JST)

------ [B]Korea[/B]: stock exchange closes (3pm KST)

------ [B]Australia[/B]: business day ends (5pm AEDT)

[B]06:30 Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange re-opens (2:30pm HKT)

[B]06:45 Switzerland[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 7:45am CET)


EUROPEAN SESSION begins at 07:00 GMT ------ (Asian/European overlap: 07:00 - 09:00 GMT)


[B]07:00 Central Europe[/B]: business day begins (8am CET)

------ [B]Italy[/B]: stock exchange opens (8am CET)

------ [B]Spain[/B] and [B]Norway[/B]: banks open (8am CET)

------ [B]Singapore[/B]: banks close (3pm SGT)

[B]07:30 Korea[/B] and [B]Taiwan[/B]: banks close (4:30pm KST and 3:30pm CST)

------ [B]Switzerland[/B] and [B]Italy[/B]: banks open (8:30am CET)

------ [B]Spain[/B]: stock exchange opens (8:30am CET)

[B]08:00 Japan[/B] and [B]Korea[/B]: business day ends (5pm local time)

------ [B]Hong Kong[/B]: stock exchange and banks close (4pm HKT)

------ [B]U.K.[/B]: business day begins and stock exchange opens (8am GMT)

------ [B]Germany[/B], [B]France[/B], [B]Belgium[/B], [B]Netherlands[/B], [B]Denmark[/B] and [B]Norway[/B]: stock exchanges open (9am CET)

------ [B]Germany[/B], [B]France[/B], [B]Belgium[/B] and [B]Netherlands[/B]: banks open (9am CET)

[B]08:10 Switzerland[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 9:10am CET)

[B]08:15 Switzerland[/B]: stock exchange opens (9:15am CET)

[B]08:30 Sweden[/B]: stock exchange and banks open (9:30am CET)

[B]09:00 Singapore[/B]: stock exchange closes and the business day ends (5pm SGT)

------ [B]Hong Kong[/B] and [B]Taiwan[/B]: business day ends (5pm local time)

------ [B]U.K.[/B] and [B]Denmark[/B]: banks open (9am GMT and 10am CET)

------ [B] Euro-zone[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 10am CET)

[B]09:30 U.K.[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 9:30am GMT)

[B]10:00 Euro-zone[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 11am CET)

[B]12:00 Canada[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 7am EST)


NORTH AMERICAN SESSION begins at 13:00 GMT ------ (European/North American overlap: 13:00 - 17:00 GMT)


[B]13:00 U.S.[/B] and [B]Canada[/B]: business day begins (8am EST)

------ [B] Spain[/B]: banks close (2pm CET)

[B]13:30 U.S.[/B] and[B] Canada[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 8:30am EST)
[B]
14:00 Sweden[/B]: banks close (3pm CET)

------ [B] U.S.[/B]: banks open (9am EST)

[B]14:30 Norway[/B]: banks close (3:30pm CET)

------ [B] U.S.[/B] and [B]Canada[/B]: stock exchanges open (9:30am EST)

------ [B]Canada[/B]: banks open (9:30am EST)

[B]15:00 Germany[/B], [B]Italy[/B],[B] Belgium[/B] and [B]Denmark[/B]: banks close (4pm CET)

------ [B]U.S.[/B] and [B]Canada[/B]: economic data (news) released (typically 10am EST)

[B]15:30 France[/B] and [B]Switzerland[/B]: banks close (4:30pm CET)

------ [B] Norway[/B]: stock exchange closes (4:30pm CET)

[B]16:00 U.K.[/B] and [B]Netherlands[/B]: banks close (4pm GMT and 5pm CET)

------ [B]Denmark[/B]: stock exchange closes (5pm CET)

[B]16:30 U.K.[/B]: stock exchange closes (4:30pm GMT)

------ [B]France[/B], [B]Switzerland[/B],[B] Belgium[/B], [B]Netherlands[/B] and [B]Sweden[/B]: stock exchanges close (5:30pm CET)

[B]16:35 Spain[/B]: stock exchange closes (5:35pm CET)

[B]16:40 Italy[/B]: stock exchange closes (5:40pm CET)
[B]
17:00 U.K.[/B]: business day ends (5pm GMT)

------ [B]Central Europe[/B]: business day ends (except German stock exchange) (6pm CET)

[B]19:00 Germany[/B]: stock exchange (Deutsche Boerse) closes (8pm CET)

------ [B]Asian/Pacific region[/B]: a new business day begins in New Zealand
[B]
20:00 U.S.[/B]: banks close (3pm EST)

[B]21:00 U.S.[/B] and [B]Canada[/B]: stock exchanges close (4pm EST)

[B]21:30 Canada[/B]: banks close (4:30pm EST)

[B]22:00 U.S.[/B] and [B]Canada[/B]: business day ends (5pm EST)


[B]Notes[/B]

[B]1.[/B] Times shown in the left column of the table are GMT.

[B]2.[/B] Nominal 8am-5pm business hours are shown for most countries in the table, above. These nominal business hours represent
a general rule, but there are local exceptions.

[B]3.[/B] Bank hours shown are for retail banks, which typically close overnight in all countries. The largest commercial banks, which handle almost all spot forex volume, maintain 24-hour trading desks, and therefore never close (with the possible exception of
the weekend hours from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, plus certain holidays).

[B]4.[/B] Times shown for the release of economic data (news) are the most frequently occuring times, but are not the only times.
Refer to the forex news calendar provided by Forex Factory (Forex Calendar @ Forex Factory), or other sources, for a complete
list of news releases for 7 major markets for the current week.

[B]5.[/B] Stock exchange opening and closing times were obtained from the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE)
(http://www.world-exchanges.org/WFE/home.Asp?nav=ie). The WFE is the trade organization for regulated securities and derivatives markets and their clearing houses; as such, it is the definitive source for information on these financial institutions.

[B]6.[/B] The stock exchanges referenced in the table are:

New Zealand Exchange, Ltd. (NZX); Major index: NZX 50
Australian Securities Exchange (ASX); Major index: S&P/ASX 200

Tokyo Stock Exchange Group, Inc. (TSE); Major index: Nikkei 225
Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE)
Singapore Exchange (SGX); Major index: Straits Times Index
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKX); Major index: Hang Seng
Korea Exchange (KRX); Major index: KRX 100
Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE); Major index: TAIEX

Deutsche Boerse, AG (Germany); Major index: XETRA DAX
NYSE Euronext (Belgium, France, Netherlands and Portugal); Major index: CAC 40 (France)
SIX Swiss Exchange (SWX); Major index: SMI
BME Spanish Exchanges (BME)
Borsa Italiana SpA (Italy); Major index: S&P/MIB
Nasdaq OMX (OMX) (Denmark and Sweden); Major index: NDAQ
Oslo Bors, ASA (Norway); Major index: OSEBX
London Stock Exchange (LSE); Major index: FTSE 100

TMX Group (Toronto Stock Exchange - TSX); Major index: S&P/TSX Composite
NYSE Euronext (New York Stock Exchange - NYSE); Major index: DJIA
Nasdaq OMX (Nasdaq Stock Market - NASDAQ); Major index: NASDAQ 100

[B]7.[/B] Time zones referenced in the table are:

NZDT - New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT = GMT + 13 hours)
AEDT - Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT = GMT + 11 hours)

JST – Japanese Standard Time (JST = GMT + 9 hours)
KST – Korean Standard Time (KST = GMT + 9 hours)
SGT – Singapore Time (SGT = GMT + 8 hours)
HKT – Hong Kong Time (HKT = GMT + 8 hours)
CST – Chinese Standard Time (Taiwan) (CST = GMT + 8 hours)

CET – Central European Time (CET = GMT + 1 hour)
GMT – Greenwich Mean Time (U.K.)

EST – U.S./Canadian Eastern Standard Time (EST = GMT - 5 hours)

[B]8.[/B] Errors? Contact me via Private Message.


This post is very helpful. I was also looking a 24h timetable with best times for each currency, based on volumes. Would you know such thing?

Many thanks,
francsfx

[B]francsfx,[/B]

Thanks for the kudos.

[B]This is the outdated thread,[/B] which was superseded by an updated version in June 2010.

Here is a link to the SUMMER table that you should be using currently, in the updated thread —

http://forums.babypips.com/newbie-island/34894-24-hour-forex-trading-day-updated.html#post203134

Notice that there are two tables, one for [B]April - September[/B] (northern hemisphere summer), and one for
[B]November - March[/B] (northern hemisphere winter).

The “missing” periods — September to November, and March to April — are the times when various countries are going onto, or off of, daylight saving time. During these transitions, the times shown in the Tables are constantly being shuffled.

To avoid confusion in the future, I will edit the Tables on this thread, to direct forum users to the updated thread.


Regarding hourly volume figures for the various currencies (or currency pairs), I’m not aware of a source for that data.

I have done some work on worldwide forex trading volume, on an hour-by-hour basis, but I was working with aggregate numbers (all currencies and all instruments), not with the numbers that you are looking for.