Time Change Reminder -- March / April 2025

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 Standard Time to Daylight Saving 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 2025 in the major forex markets

March 9 — the US, Canada, and portions of Mexico will begin Daylight Saving Time

March 30 — the UK, Ireland, and all of Europe will begin Summer Time (DST)

April 6 — 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 9, 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 10 (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 10 (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 9, through Saturday, March 29 —
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 30, 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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Will 2026 be the year we finally get rid of Daylight Saving Time?

In December, Trump “tweeted” (on his Truth Social platform) the following:

DST - Trump wants to eliminate it
DST - Trump wants to eliminate it936Ă—802 406 KB

In the U.S., the current scheme for alternating between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time was passed by Congress, and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson, in 1966. It has subsequently been amended several times. (See Uniform Time Act - Wikipedia). Trump can’t simply end it with an Executive Order. It will likely take another act of Congress to repeal this annual switching back and forth.

Getting the repeal of Daylight Saving Time through Congress might take months of debate. There is opposition from some groups to changing the current scheme, and there are some people (Marco Rubio and others) who actually want permanent Daylight Saving Time. Trump should be able to whip the Congress into action; and, no doubt, he can get Rubio in line, as well. But, time is short…

If the repeal is going to happen in time to forestall another round of Daylight Saving Time next year, that repeal needs to happen soon. Canada, Mexico, and some Caribbean countries coordinate their annual time changes with the U.S., and sufficient time for an orderly transition is needed prior to March 2026 — otherwise, we’ll have to do this all over again.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) holds the position that “seasonal time changes should be abolished in favor of a fixed, national, year-round standard time,” and that “standard time is a better option than daylight saving time for our health, mood and well-being.” — Wikipedia

If the switch to Daylight Saving Time is messing with your bedtime, try reading
this article from Wikipedia — it will put you right to sleep.

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Ugh I had high hopes this one would at least happen. I did see his answer abotu this saying that it’s 50/50 and I’m just like, I don’t believe that!!!

Typing this with one hour less sleep today annoyed yet again lol.

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Great information! Thanks.

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On Sunday, March 30, 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, March 31.

  • 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.

Efforts to End DST in the EU Have Stalled — a report from timeanddate.com
(I have bold-typed one sentence.)

In 2019, the European Parliament backed a proposal from the European Commission to abolish DST in EU member countries. However, by 2021, the proposal had stalled in the European Council due to practical challenges in its implementation. There hasn’t been any significant progress on the matter in recent years.

In 2024, some 67 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) renewed efforts by urging the European Commission to revisit the issue, highlighting health risks and questioning the contemporary relevance of DST.
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The last DST time change for this season will occur in one week, on April 6, at which time New Zealand and southeastern Australia will return to Standard Time.

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Experiment in UK back in 1968 - lasted 3 years - clocks went fwd in spring & remained so in Oct instead of going back 1 hour.

The effect?

I remember it well - on the school bus in the dark, we didn’t have high vis or mob phones with torches, parents warning watch out for cars.

Some sort of experiment in energy saving that failed.

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On Sunday, April 6, 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 7.

  • 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 2025.