Times, and time zones, and the so-called “opening” and “closing” times of the forex market in various countries — these are all complicated topics for newbies. So, let’s take it slowly, from the top.
B[/B] The worldwide foreign exchange market [B]never[/B] closes for the big players (central banks, multinational corporations, large hedge funds, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and of course the big banks which comprise the interbank network).
B[/B] Little guys, like us, do not have access to the big banks in the interbank network, where the currency market is actually “made”. So, we have to trade through a retail broker. We have access to the broker, and the broker has access to one or more big banks in the interbank network.
But, retail brokers do not remain open for trading 365 days per year. Instead, they are open, continuously for 24 hours per day, for about 122 hours each week. Typically, a retail broker will begin feeding live prices to their trading platforms and charts at about the time that the normal business day begins on Monday morning in New Zealand; and they will continue their live price feeds non-stop until the normal business day ends on Friday afternoon in New York.
The normal business day in New Zealand begins each day at 8am (New Zealand time), which is 20:00 GMT. The normal business day in New York ends each day at 5pm (New York time), which is 22:00 GMT.
So, generally, retail forex brokers are open for trading from 20:00 GMT on Sunday (8am Monday in New Zealand), until 22:00 GMT on Friday (5pm Friday in New York) — 122 hours total, each week.
[B]But, brokers may vary these times, according to their own business models.[/B]
[B]So, the short answer to your question is: No, brokers do not all open and close at exactly the same time. [/B]
Check with your own broker to determine what their trading hours are.
B[/B] The question of when “the forex market” opens and closes in each country causes great confusion for newbies. We generally say that the forex market opens in each country when the normal business day begins; and the forex market closes in each country when the normal business day ends.
However, forex trading does not end in any country, just because banks and businesses are closed for the night. Forex trading can, and does, continue around-the-clock in every country.
[B]So, this whole idea of a forex market which “opens” and “closes” is really a very broad generalization.[/B]
What really happens is that trading volume falls off dramatically in the overnight period in each country. In other words, forex trading volume tends to mimic the normal business day, even though the forex market is open to all participants 24 hours per day.
Further complicating the issue of “opening” times and “closing” times is the fact that “the normal business day” varies somewhat from country to country. In the U.S., the business day (generally) is 8am to 5pm. But, in Spain, and Japan, and in many other countries, “the normal business day” generally starts later and ends later than in the U.S.
So, when we say, for instance, that the forex market in Europe opens at 8am Zurich time, and closes at 5pm Zurich time, we are making two huge generalizations —
First, it’s true that most of Europe’s foreign exchange transaction volume each day occurs between those times; but, not all of it. My estimate is that about 83% of total daily foreign exchange volume in each country occurs between 8am and 5pm local time. The other 17% occurs in the overnight hours (5pm-8am).
Second, not all of the countries of Europe conform to an 8am-5pm business day.
B[/B] All that being said, it’s useful to generalize the shifts in worldwide forex trading volume in this way. So, first we generalize that the normal business day everywhere in the world is such-and-such, and then we generalize that the forex market conforms to the normal business day.
Some traders (arbitrarily) pick 8am-5pm as the normal business day in each location. These are the times that I use. Some other traders pick 9am-5pm, or 8am-4pm. Some traders try to fine-tune their market times, and claim, for instance, that the normal business day in New Zealand is different from the normal business day in Singapore, and so forth.
Keep in mind: It’s a generalization! You can get carried away obsessing over precision!