Time change reminder --- September / October / November 2015

Beginner Questions
1

Over the next 5 weeks, various countries will go onto, or off of, Daylight Saving Time (DST).

This is a nuisance for forex traders around the world — one we have to contend with every 6 months.

Between late September and early November each year, and then again between early March and late April each year, we go through a transition from northern hemisphere summer to southern hemisphere summer, and then back again.

During these transitions, forex trading session times get shifted backward or forward, by one hour or two hours, depending on where you are in the world and which session you are trading.

We have been tracking these time changes for several years — and, by now, you all know how to make the necessary adjustments in your trading. All you need is a schedule of the changes which are coming.

Here’s the schedule:

[B]Daylight Saving Time Changes for September-November 2015 in the Principal Forex Markets[/B]

• September 27 — New Zealand will begin Daylight Saving Time (DST)

• October 4 — southeastern Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, etc.) will begin DST

• October 25 — the U.K., and eastern, central and western Europe will return to Standard Time

• November 1 — the U.S. and Canada will return to Standard Time

[B]Daylight Saving Time Changes for September-November 2015 in other countries[/B]

• Iran returned to Std. Time on September 22

• Mongolia will return to Std. Time on September 26

• Paraguay will begin DST on October 4, along with southeastern Australia

• most of Brazil will begin DST on October 18

• Gaza and West Bank will return to Std. Time on October 23

• most of Greenland will return to Std. Time on October 24

• The English Channel Islands, Ireland, Israel, Lebanon, and most of Mexico —
will return to Standard Time on October 25, along with the U.K. and Europe

• Jordan and Syria will return to Std. Time on October 30

• Bermuda, Bahamas, and Cuba — will return to Standard Time on November 1,
along with the U.S. and Canada

See post #2 for details of the time changes which will occur in New Zealand this weekend.

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2

[B]On Sunday, September 27, New Zealand will begin southern hemisphere Daylight Saving Time.[/B]

In New Zealand, the time zone will change from GMT+12 to GMT+13. Clocks in New Zealand will be turned forward by one hour, prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, September 28.

[B]For traders in New Zealand:[/B] The normal business day in New Zealand will not change, but the normal business day in every other market will begin and end one hour later than previously.

[B]For traders in all other locations:[/B] The only change will be that the normal business day in New Zealand will begin and end one hour earlier than previously.

The next Daylight Saving Time change will occur in one week, at which time southeastern Australia will begin DST. Here are the forex market opening and closing times for the next week.

[B]GMT opening and closing times for the 7 principal forex markets[/B]
for 1 week from Sunday, September 27, 2015, through Friday, October 2, 2015

Wellington (time zone GMT+13)
opens at 1900 GMT, closes at 0400 GMT


Sydney (time zone GMT+10)
opens at 2200 GMT, closes at 0700 GMT


[B]Tokyo[/B] (time zone GMT+9)
opens at 2300 GMT, closes at 0800 GMT


Singapore (time zone GMT+8)
opens at 0000 GMT, closes at 0900 GMT


Zurich (time zone GMT+2)
opens at 0600 GMT, closes at 1500 GMT


[B]London[/B] (time zone GMT+1)
opens at 0700 GMT, closes at 1600 GMT


[B]New York[/B] (time zone GMT-4)
opens at 1200 GMT, closes at 2100 GMT

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3

[B]On Sunday, October 4, southeastern Australia will begin Daylight Saving Time.[/B]

The region referred to here as “southeastern Australia” comprises the states of [B]New South Wales[/B] (Sydney, etc.), [B]Victoria[/B] (Melbourne, etc.), [B]Australian Capital Territory[/B] (Canberra, etc.), [B]South Australia[/B] (Adelaide, etc.), and the island of [B]Tasmania[/B] (Hobart, etc.). Geographically, southeastern Australia comprises a little less than a third of the Australian continent.

In New South Wales, Victoria, ACT, and Tasmania the time-zone will change this weekend from GMT+10 to GMT+11.

In South Australia, the time-zone will change from GMT+9½ to GMT+10½.

Clocks in these states will be turned forward by one hour, prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, October 5.

• [B]For traders in southeastern Australia,[/B] the normal business day in the Sydney market will not change, but the normal business day in every other forex market around the world will begin and end one hour later than previously.

The states of [B]Queensland[/B] (Brisbane, etc.), [B]Northern Territory[/B] (Darwin, etc.), and [B]Western Australia[/B] (Perth, etc.) do not observe Daylight Saving Time.

• [B]For traders in Queensland, Northern Territory, Western Australia, and in all other locations around the world,[/B] the only change (beginning Monday morning) will be that the normal business day in the Sydney market will begin and end one hour earlier than previously.

The next Daylight Saving Time change will occur in 3 weeks, at which time the U.K. and Europe will end DST and return to Standard Time. Here are the forex market opening and closing times for the next 3 weeks.

[B]GMT opening and closing times for the 7 principal forex markets[/B]
for 3 weeks from Sunday, October 4 through Friday, October 23, 2015

Wellington (time zone GMT+13)
opens at 1900 GMT, closes at 0400 GMT


Sydney (time zone GMT+11)
opens at 2100 GMT, closes at 0600 GMT


[B]Tokyo[/B] (time zone GMT+9)
opens at 2300 GMT, closes at 0800 GMT


Singapore (time zone GMT+8)
opens at 0000 GMT, closes at 0900 GMT


Zurich (time zone GMT+2)
opens at 0600 GMT, closes at 1500 GMT


[B]London[/B] (time zone GMT+1)
opens at 0700 GMT, closes at 1600 GMT


[B]New York[/B] (time zone GMT-4)
opens at 1200 GMT, closes at 2100 GMT

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4

Thank you, Clint, helpful as ever!

I use a slightly different marker for opening times:

NYSE: 2.30pm GMT;
LSE: 8am GMT;
Zurich: 7am.

I tend to go by the NYSE for the US session open, rather than the earlier time of 12(?)pm… Just like some people may choose the Tokyo session for the Asian opening…

However, if the NYSE opens at 2.30pm GMT, what other exchanges make the US session said to be open earlier? Chicago?

Not that it matters for my trading, as I do not use a ‘NY open’ or ‘NY close’ system, or anything like that…

Thanks

5

The NYSE opens at 9:30am New York time, which [I]currently is 0130 GMT.[/I] In four weeks, when the U.S. returns to Standard Time, 9:30am New York time will be 0230 GMT (and will remain so for about 6 months).

The LSE opens at 8am London time, which [I]currently is 0700 GMT.[/I] In three weeks, when the U.K. and Europe return to Standard Time, 8am London time will be 0800 GMT (and will remain so for about 6 months).

When you say [I]Zurich: 7am,[/I] if you are referring to SIX (the Swiss Exchange in Zurich) —
The SIX opens at 9am Zurich time, [I]which coincides with the 8am opening time of the LSE (year-round).[/I]

That being said, the times I’ve posted are not based on stock (or commodity) trading hours.

The times I’ve posted in this thread are [I]normal business hours[/I] (assumed to be 8am-5pm, local time) in each of the principal forex markets.

Clearly, forex trading is not governed by opening and closing bells, like an exchange. Nor does it suddenly begin at 8am (or at any other time) in any market, or close at 5pm (or at any other time) in any market.

But, my study has indicated that about 83% of the 24-hour trading activity in each market takes place in the 9 daytime hours between 8am and 5pm each day, and only about 17% of daily trading activity takes place in the 15 overnight hours between 5pm and 8am. In other words, as one might expect, the vast majority of forex trading volume occurs during “normal business hours” in each market.

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6

Thanks, Clint,

you are a legend!

I tend to watch the London open because sometimes (not always) you see a definite mood forming in

certain pairs (not just Pound pairs) when the liquidity of the LSE kicks in at 8am (UK time).

Also, the FTSE100 moves quite a bit one hour before the LSE opens, which coincides with the

Frankfurt open…

I meant Frankfurt, not Zurich, at 7am… MY APOLOGIES!

Okay, all clear.

Have a nice day!

7

Hello, Francesco

I don’t know about the legend part, but thanks.

As for Frankfurt, that city is in the same time zone as Zurich (currently CEST = GMT+2). All of central Europe, from Spain to Serbia, and from Sweden to Malta, is in that time zone.

I refer to the European market as “Zurich”, rather than “Frankfurt”, because Switzerland is the largest forex market by volume of the 26 countries in central Europe.

8

Hello Clint.

I just double-checked on another website (featuring the opening times of stock exchanges around the world) and it definitely confirms that the Frankfurt one opens one hour before the London one… For example, using UTC, Frankfurt opens at 7am and London at 8am. I think we can safely say that, whether we use UTC, EST, BST, GMT, or other time frames, there is a gap of one hour between the two exchanges. My experience of observing the effect of the Frankfurt open on, say, the FTSE100 index, certainly confirms that it is valuable to be aware of the Frankfurt open in the daily timetable for European trading.
:slight_smile:

9

On Sunday, October 25, [B]the U.K., Ireland, and all of eastern, central and western Europe[/B] will end Daylight Saving Time (DST) and return to Standard Time. This time change will involve every country situated between the Russian border and the Atlantic Ocean, except Belarus.

Listed geographically, from east to west —

In eastern Europe (Finland, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, etc.) the time zone will change from GMT+3 to GMT+2.

In central Europe (28 countries from Serbia west to Spain, and from Sweden south to Malta), the time zone will change from GMT+2 to GMT+1.

In western Europe (Portugal), and in the U.K. (including the Channel Islands), and in Ireland, the time zone will change from GMT+1 to GMT.

Clocks in all of these countries[B]*[/B] will be turned back one hour, prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, October 27.

• [B]For traders in all of these countries,[/B] the normal business day in the London and European markets will not change, but the normal business day in every other forex market will begin and end one hour earlier than previously, starting Monday morning.

• [B]For traders in countries not listed above,[/B] the only change will be that the normal business day in the London and European markets will begin and end one hour later than previously, starting Monday morning.

Traders in the U.S. and Canada who trade the European or London sessions, and traders in the U.K. and Europe who trade the New York session, should be aware that the usual 5-hour time difference between London and New York will be reduced to 4 hours, for one week, starting Monday morning.

During this one-week period, the heavily traded London/New York overlap will be 5 hours in length, as follows: 12pm-5pm London time, and 8am-1pm New York time.

The last Daylight Saving Time change for this season will occur in one week, at which time the U.S. and Canada will end DST and return to Standard Time. Here are the forex market opening and closing times for the coming one week.

[B]GMT opening and closing times for the 7 principal forex markets[/B]
for one week from Sunday, October 25 through Friday, October 30, 2015

Wellington (time zone GMT+13)
opens at 1900 GMT, closes at 0400 GMT


Sydney (time zone GMT+11)
opens at 2100 GMT, closes at 0600 GMT


[B]Tokyo[/B] (time zone GMT+9)
opens at 2300 GMT, closes at 0800 GMT


Singapore (time zone GMT+8)
opens at 0000 GMT, closes at 0900 GMT


Zurich (Europe) (time zone GMT+1)
opens at 0700 GMT, closes at 1600 GMT


[B]London[/B] (time zone GMT)
opens at 0800 GMT, closes at 1700 GMT


[B]New York[/B] (time zone GMT-4)
opens at 1200 GMT, closes at 2100 GMT

[B]*[/B] plus Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, West Bank, most of Brazil, most of Greenland, and most of Mexico

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10

On Sunday, November 1, [B]the U.S. and Canada[/B] will end Daylight Saving Time (DST) and return to Standard Time.

Five time zones in the U.S. (including Alaska), and seven time zones in Canada (including Nova Scotia and Newfoundland), will be affected by this time change.

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

Clocks in the U.S.* and Canada* (and in Bermuda and Bahamas) will be turned back one hour prior to the opening of the forex market on Monday morning, November 2.

This change will restore the time difference between London and New York to 5 hours (which is normal for most of the year). And the heavily-traded London/New York Overlap will be restored to its normal 4 hours, as follows: 1pm-5pm London time, and 8am-12noon New York time.

• [B]For traders in the U.S., Canada, Bermuda and Bahamas,[/B] the forex trading session (the normal business day) in the New York market will not change, but the forex trading sessions (normal business days) in every other forex market will begin and end one hour earlier than previously, starting Monday morning.

• [B]For traders in all other countries,[/B] the only change will be that the forex trading session (the normal business day) in the New York market will begin and end one hour later than previously, starting Monday morning.

*These statements do not apply to Arizona and Hawaii in the U.S., or to certain portions of Canada,
because those places do not observe DST.

This is the last Daylight Saving Time change for this season. The session times shown below will apply through Friday, March 13, 2016. Here are the forex market session times for the next 4½ months.

[B]GMT opening and closing times for the 7 principal forex markets[/B]
Sunday, November 1, 2015, through Friday, March 13, 2016

Wellington (time zone GMT+13)
opens at 1900 GMT, closes at 0400 GMT


Sydney (time zone GMT+11)
opens at 2100 GMT, closes at 0600 GMT


[B]Tokyo[/B] (time zone GMT+9)
opens at 2300 GMT, closes at 0800 GMT


Singapore (time zone GMT+8)
opens at 0000 GMT, closes at 0900 GMT


Zurich (Europe) (time zone GMT+1)
opens at 0700 GMT, closes at 1600 GMT


[B]London[/B] (time zone GMT)
opens at 0800 GMT, closes at 1700 GMT


[B]New York[/B] (time zone GMT-5)
opens at 1300 GMT, closes at 2200 GMT

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11

Thank you! Nice done job!