Hello, evision. Welcome to this Forum.
There is no answer to the question ‘what is the [B]exact[/B] time that each market opens and closes’, for this reason: There are no “exchanges” on which spot forex is traded, so there are no opening or closing “bells” to signal the beginning and end of trading each day. Trading continues around the clock in every market.
But, that round-the-clock trading is not at a constant pace. In every market, the [B]pace[/B] of forex trading activity — what we call [B]trading volume[/B] — rises and falls each day according to a repeating pattern. Generally, in each market, most of each day’s trading volume occurs during “regular business hours” in that market.
Specifically, trading [B]volume[/B] rises dramatically at about 8am local time in each market, and then trails off significantly in the afternoon. I have estimated that more than 85% of all the trading volume occurring in a 24-hour period occurs in the 9 hours between 8am and 5pm each day in each market.
Therefore, like many other traders, I use 8am-5pm, local time, as the “trading session” in each market.
So, for Tokyo, it’s 8am-5pm JST. For Zurich, it’s 8am-5pm CET (or CEST, depending on time of year). For London, it’s 8am-5pm GMT (or BST, depending on time of year). And for New York, it’s 8am-5pm EST (or EDT, depending on time of year).
What influences the “opening” and “closing” times of the forex market in any country? Well, the opening and closing times of the largest commercial banks, and the opening and closing times of the local stock exchanges, have a lot to do with it. But, it would be a mistake to assume that forex trading begins when the banks or the stock exchanges open, or that forex trading ends when the banks or the stock exchanges close.
[B]The daily pattern of trading volume in each market is the key metric.[/B] When forex trading volume rises dramatically in the morning, the forex trading session has begun. And when forex trading volume has fallen off significantly in the late afternoon, the forex trading session has ended.
You should become a student of forex trading volume, as measured by “tick volume”. Use the [B]Search[/B] feature in this Forum to find relevant threads on the topic of volume.
If I’m correctly understanding your last question, answering it will require some background discussion.
Most of the Euro Zone countries (that is, the countries using the euro as their currency) lie within the [B]Central European Time[/B] zone (CET, or CEST, depending on time of year). Notably, the [B]major forex market participants[/B] are all located in the Central European Time zone. These major participants (in order, according to forex trading [B]volume[/B]) are France, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, and several others.
And the largest forex player in Europe — Switzerland — is in the Central European Time zone, as well. But, as you probably know, Switzerland is not part of the Euro Zone; Switzerland uses the franc, not the euro, as their currency.
In addition, there are other countries within the Central European Time zone which do [B]not[/B] use the euro as their currency. Nevertheless, [B]their participation in the currency market contributes to the total volume of the “European Session”.[/B] As a research project, see whether you can identify those countries.
The term [B]Europe[/B] can mean different things.
• In its broadest sense, Europe is everything from Iceland to Cyprus.
• Since the days of the Cold War, it has been common to speak of Europe as being divided politically into [B]Eastern Europe[/B] (east of the old Soviet Iron Curtain), and [B]Western Europe[/B] (west of the Iron Curtain). Those terms are still used sometimes, even today.
• The term [B]continental Europe[/B] refers to everything from France east to Eurasia. Obviously, this excludes the British Isles and Iceland.
• Continental Europe is divided into three time zones: [B]Eastern European Time, Central European Time and Western European Time.[/B] These time zones do not coincide exactly with any of the other ways in which Europe is divided. The Western European Time zone refers only to Portugal. Portugal and the U.K. lie in the same time zone.
• The [B]European Union[/B] is a political arrangement involving many of the countries of “greater Europe” (meaning Europe in the broadest sense).
• And the [B]Euro Zone[/B] is the collection of countries whose currency is the euro, not all of which are part of the European Union. Non-Europeans frequently think that the European Union and the Euro Zone are one and the same, which is incorrect.
So, whenever you hear the term “Europe”, you need to be sure that you understand which “Europe” is being referred to.
When Europe comes to market each day, a large number of countries, from Switzerland on down, quickly ramp up their daily business activity and their daily forex trading volume. That happens around 8am Central European Time. That’s what I, and many other traders, call the “opening of the European Session”, or simply the “European open”.
You can call it the [B]European Session,[/B] the [B]Frankfurt Session,[/B] or (as I do) the [B]Zurich Session.[/B] Those labels all mean the same thing. I choose to call it the Zurich Session, because Zurich is the banking and trading hub of Switzerland, and Switzerland is by far the largest forex market participant in continental Europe.
You will find other sources which specify different times for the various trading sessions. And you will find other sources which list fewer than 7 principal trading sessions. I have just given you my reasons for using the 8am-5pm local time period for each session. If you study the Notes which are part of my posts on this thread, you will find my reasons for listing 7 principal trading sessions — rather than 4, or 5, or 6, as some sources do.
