On Sunday, March 10, the U.S. and Canada will go onto Daylight Saving Time. The time zone in the eastern U.S. and Canada (i.e., New York time) will change from EST (GMT-5) to EDT (GMT-4).
Beginning with the opening of the retail forex market in New York on Monday morning, March 11:
• The opening and closing times of the New York Trading Session will change by one hour for all forex traders EXCEPT traders in the U.S. and Canada*, and
• The opening and closing times of the other six Trading Sessions will remain unchanged for all forex traders EXCEPT traders in the U.S. and Canada*.
- Note — There are exceptions to the statements indicated above. These exceptions are: Arizona and Hawaii, in the U.S.;
and small portions of Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, in Canada.
The Table of Forex Trading Sessions has been updated to reflect these changes. The updates are highlighted in yellow.
Notes following the Table explain the format of the Table and how to use it, and give general information on time zones and time changes.
The next update to the Table will be posted in 3 weeks (when Europe and the U.K. will go onto Daylight Saving Time).
How to use this Table:
1. The upper portion of the Table lists the opening time and closing time of the normal (8am-5pm) business day in each of the 7 principal forex trading markets. These opening and closing times are shown for each of 27 different GMT time zones. In most cases, you will be concerned with only one of those 27 time zones — the time zone where you are located.
2. Each horizontal line in the upper portion of the Table refers to a particular GMT time zone. The times shown on that line are local times in that time zone.
3. If you know your current GMT time zone, you can use the upper portion of the Table to find opening and closing times in 7 markets. The times shown are current, local times in your time zone.
4. If you do not know your current GMT time zone, you can use the lower portion of the Table to find the correct time zone for your location, for this particular time of year. Then, refer to your GMT time zone in the upper portion of the Table, and read the current opening and closing times in 7 markets.
Example: Let’s say you’re in South Africa, you want to find the opening and closing times for the New York Session, but you don’t know your GMT time zone.
• Step 1 - Go to the lower portion of the Table, and there you will find South Africa listed in the GMT+2 time zone.
• Step 2 - Go to the upper portion of the Table, find the line for GMT+2, and read across to the column labeled “New York Session”, where you will find the times that you are looking for. The times shown there are local times in your South Africa time zone.
5. The list of countries (and regions) in the lower portion of the Table is far from being a complete list of the countries of the world.
Basically, 3 groups of countries (and regions) are listed in the Table: (1) the 7 principal forex trading centers (e.g., the U.K., Japan, etc.), (2) other countries where active Babypips Forum members reside (e.g., Philippines, Mexico, etc.), and (3) a few other countries (or regions) included as geographical reference points (e.g., Pakistan, west-central Russia, Iceland, etc.).
For a much more complete list of countries, together with DST information for each of them, refer to — Daylight Saving Time Around the World 2013
Additional notes on the Table, plus some time zone factoids:
1. The 7 markets shown in the Table are considered to be “principal” forex markets, because they are the “home markets” of the 10 most heavily traded currencies in the world: the U.S. dollar (USD), the euro (EUR), the Japanese yen (JPY), the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD), the Swiss franc (CHF), the Canadian dollar (CAD), the Hong Kong dollar (HKD), the Swedish krona (SEK), and the New Zealand dollar (NZD). Altogether, these 10 currencies are involved in more than 90% of all currency transactions worldwide.
2. The 7 forex markets in the Table are listed (from left to right) in the order in which they open on a daily basis.
By international agreement, a new calendar day begins at midnight at the International Date Line, in the Pacific Ocean, east of New Zealand. So, a new calendar day begins first in New Zealand, then in Australia, then in Japan, and so forth.
For the purpose of our Table, we are saying that a new business day begins at 8am in each location. So, following the sun, a new business day begins first in New Zealand, then in Australia, Japan, Singapore (and the rest of mainland Asia), then later in Europe, the U.K., and North America.
Looking at a map, it’s clear that the business day progresses from right to left (east to west, as the sun moves across the map). But, our Table reads from left to right, because it’s written in English.
3. The International Date Line splits one time zone down the middle: east of the Line, that time zone is called GMT-12; and west of the Line, the time zone is called GMT+12. When you cross the Line from east to west, you cross from one day on the calendar, into the next day.
On the other side of the world, the Greenwich Meridian (which runs through the London suburb of Greeenwich) splits the GMT time zone down the middle. In this case, however, the time zone is the same on both sides of the Meridian: GMT+0.
Altogether, counting the GMT+0 time zone, there are 24 hourly time zones circling the earth, from GMT+12 on the west side of the International Date Line, to GMT-12 on the east side of the Line. In addition, there are several half-hour time zones (for instance, GMT+9½ in Northern Territory, Australia).
4. You will not find the GMT+13 time zone on some time-zone maps. The GMT+13 time zone is an artificial time zone designating New Zealand (and some other Pacific island nations) when they are on Daylight Saving Time. When New Zealand is on Standard Time, their time zone is GMT+12.
5. Each sovereign country decides for itself what the time of day shall be within its borders, and therefore what time zone, or zones, the country shall lie within. This can lead to some wild distortions of the time zone map.
China, for instance, has decided that their entire country will be in one time zone (GMT+8), even though it is a very large country (east to west). China extends all the way to Pakistan (GMT+5). So, if you were to walk across the border from Pakistan, into China, you would be stepping across 3 time zones. (And, probably, you would be shot.)
India has decided that they don’t like being either GMT+5, or GMT+6; so, they have established themselves as GMT+5½.
6. Many countries do not observe Daylight Saving Time (DST). In the Table, above, those countries which do not observe DST are marked with an asterisk (*).
In the U.S., the states of Arizona and Hawaii do not observe DST. Portions of Canada and Mexico do not observe DST. In Australia, the states of Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia do not observe DST.
7. Russia has decided to remain on Daylight Saving Time permanently. The Russians have had some fun claiming that they’ve permanently banned winter from Russia. In the western region of Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg) for example, the time zone will remain GMT+4 year-round.
Overall, Russia spans 9 time zones from GMT+12 (on their Pacific coast) to GMT+4 (at their border with Latvia) — but, they skip the GMT+5 time zone, so they actually use 8 of the 9 time zones.
8. Here’s an odd time zone factoid: Daylight Saving Time at the South Pole —
All time zones converge and disappear at the Poles. But, the South Pole has been assigned a time zone. Furthermore, during southern hemisphere summertime, the South Pole goes onto Daylight Saving Time. But, during that time period, the sun never sets at the South Pole. So, what’s the point of Daylight Saving Time there? Wikipedia explains —
“There is no a priori reason for placing the South Pole in any particular time zone, but as a matter of practical convenience the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station keeps New Zealand Time. This is because the US flies its resupply missions (“Operation Deep Freeze”) out of McMurdo Station which is supplied from Christchurch, New Zealand.”
So, when New Zealand goes onto Daylight Saving Time in September each year, the South Pole goes onto Daylight Saving Time, as well.
But, what about the North Pole? From Wikipedia:
“There is no permanent human presence at the North Pole, and no particular time zone has been assigned. Polar expeditions may use any time zone that is convenient, such as Greenwich Mean Time, or the time zone of the country they departed from.”
9. The best website for finding accurate, reliable time-zone and time-conversion information (in my opinion) is — timeanddate.com
That site was used to check (and double-check) all of the times, and time zones, shown in the Table, above. If you find errors in the Table, no doubt the fault will be mine (or yours), not the fault of the timeanddate.com website.
