Time Change Reminder -- March / April 2024

Trading Discussion
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Over the next four weeks, beginning this weekend, Daylight Saving Time Changes will affect forex markets around the world, as various countries on various dates, switch from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, or vice versa.

During this period, you might see the opening and closing times of the foreign markets you trade change by one or two hours, depending on where you are located and which foreign markets you are following.

This may, or may not, have a significant impact on your trading, depending on the time-frame you are trading. Generally, the shorter your time-frame (scalping or intraday trading, for example) the more important it will be for you to stay in sync with the trading hours in your chosen markets.

Here is the schedule of changes that will occur over the next 4 weeks:

Daylight Saving Time Changes for March-April 2024 in the major forex markets

March 10 — the US, Canada, and portions of Mexico will begin Daylight Saving Time

March 31 — the UK, Ireland, and all of Europe will begin Summer Time (DST)

April 7 — southeastern Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, etc.)
and New Zealand will return to Standard Time

Significant markets which do not observe Daylight Saving Time — listed in order by forex market size (figures in parentheses are daily forex trading volumes in billions of USD — source: BIS 2022)

Singapore (929), Hong Kong (694), Japan (433), and China (153)

Other markets which do not observe Daylight Saving Time — listed according to forex market size

Korea (68), United Arab Emirates (66), India (53), Russia (47, see note below), Taiwan (33), Brazil (21), Mexico (19), Turkey (18), South Africa (16), Malaysia (16), Thailand (15), and Indonesia (12)

Note regarding Mexico: The Mexican states nearest the US border observe DST in sync with the US. The majority of Mexican states remain on Standard Time year-round.

Note regarding Russia: The figure for forex market size ($47 billion/day) is from the BIS in 2019, as the figure was not available in the BIS Triennial Survey of 2022.

See post #2 for details of the time changes which will occur in the US and Canada this weekend.

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On Sunday, March 10, the US and Canada will begin Daylight Saving Time (DST).

Five time zones in the US (including Alaska), and seven time zones in Canada (including the maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland), will be affected by this time change.

In the eastern US and Canada, which includes the key New York market, the time zone will change from UTC-5 to UTC-4.

Clocks in the US and Canada (and in Bermuda, Bahamas, Cuba, and the northern portion of Mexico) will be turned forward one hour prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, March 11. *(see the Note below)

For traders in the US and Canada, the New York Session times will not change, but the trading sessions in every other forex market will open and close one hour later than previously, starting Monday morning, March 11.* (see the Note, below).

For traders in all other countries, the only change will be that the New York Session will open and close one hour earlier than previously, starting Monday morning.

*Note – These statements do not apply to Hawaii, to most of Arizona, and to certain portions of Canada, because those places do not observe DST.

This change will temporarily alter the normal time difference between London and
New York, as follows:

For the next 3 weeks — from Sunday, March 10, through Saturday, March 30 —
the London/New York time difference will be 4 hours (instead of the usual 5 hours).

And, during this same 3-week time period, the heavily-traded London/New York
Overlap Session will be 5 hours (instead of the usual 4 hours), as follows:
12pm-5pm London time, and 8am-1pm New York time.

The next DST time change will occur in 3 weeks, on March 31, at which time the UK, Ireland, and all of eastern, central, and western Europe will begin Summer Time (daylight saving time).

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Missed this post. Completely forgot about it and got confused when I woke up yesterday with the oven/microwave clocks not matching my phone’s alarm. How long will we keep doing this (more importantly how long will I keep complaining about it)? :tired_face:

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On Sunday, March 31, the UK and all of western, central and eastern Europe will begin Summer Time (what we, in the US, call Daylight Saving Time - DST).

This time change will involve every country situated between the Atlantic Ocean and the Russian border, except Belarus.

Listed geographically, from west to east —

  • In western Europe, Ireland’s IST (UTC+0) time zone will change to BST (UTC+1).
    Also in western Europe, Portugal’s WET (UTC+0) time zone will change to WEST (UTC+1).

  • In the UK (including the Channel Islands), the GMT (UTC+0) time zone will change to BST (UTC+1).

  • In central Europe (30 countries and principalities from Spain east to Serbia, and from Sweden south to Malta), the CET (UTC+1) time zone will change to CEST (UTC+2).

  • In eastern Europe (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Cyprus), the EET (UTC+2) time zone will change to EEST (UTC+3).

Clocks in all of these countries will be turned forward one hour, prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, April 1.

  • For traders in all of these countries, opening and closing times in the London Session and in the European Session will not change, but the trading sessions in Tokyo and New York will begin and end one hour later than previously, starting Monday morning.

  • For traders in countries not listed above, the only change will be that the London Session and the European Session will begin and end one hour earlier than previously, starting Monday morning.

This change will restore the normal time difference between New York and London, as follows:

  • Beginning on Monday morning and continuing until September, the time difference between New York and London (which has been 4 hours in duration for the past 3 weeks) will return to its normal 5-hour duration.

  • Also beginning Monday morning, the heavily-traded London / New York Overlap period will return to its normal 4-hour duration: 1 pm-5 pm London time, and
    8 am-12 pm New York time.

Removing DST in the EU Stalls — a report from timeanddate.com

In 2019, the European Parliament voted to remove Daylight Saving Time in the European Union. The vote was passed and progressed to the European Council, but this is where it faltered.

The European Council has yet to start negotiations. In recent years, issues such as Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine have further complicated matters. It seems unlikely that any changes to DST in the EU will take place anytime soon.

The last DST time change for this season will occur in one week, on April 7, at which time New Zealand and southeastern Australia will return to Standard Time.

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On Sunday, April 7, New Zealand and southeastern Australia will end Daylight Saving Time (DST), and will return to southern hemisphere Standard Time.

  • In New Zealand, the NZDT time zone (UTC+13) will change to NZST (UTC+12).

  • In the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, and Tasmania (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, etc.), the AEDT time zone (UTC+11) will change to AEST (UTC+10).

  • In South Australia (Adelaide, etc.), the ACDT time zone (UTC+10½) will change to ACST (UTC+9½).

Clocks in New Zealand and in southeastern Australia will be turned back one hour, prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, April 8.

  • For traders in New Zealand and in southeastern Australia, the forex trading sessions in Wellington and Sydney will not change, but the trading sessions in Tokyo, Zurich, London, and New York will begin and end one hour earlier than previously, starting on Monday morning.

  • For traders in the rest of Australia (Queensland, Northern Territory, and Western Australia), and in all other countries, the only change will be that the forex trading sessions in Wellington and Sydney will begin and end one hour later than previously, starting on Monday morning.

These are the last time changes in the principal forex markets, for this season.

The next series of (worldwide) time changes will begin in late September 2024.