There is no actual daily “opening” or “closing” of trading in any of the principal forex markets. But, most of the trading in each market occurs between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, local time.
In other words, the New York “session” is said to “open” at 8 am New York time, and “close” at 5 pm
New York time, each week-day (Monday through Friday). The London “session” is said to “open” at 8 am London time, and “close” at 5 pm London time, each day. And the Tokyo “session” is said to “open” at
8 am Tokyo time, and “close” at 5 pm Tokyo time, each day.
For a further discussion on session times, see THIS POST. Also, you can enter “session times” into the SEARCH feature of this website to find other posts on this subject.
If we all accept the 8 am - 5 pm local time-frame for the major trading sessions, then the question becomes: What are these times in GMT, and how do these times change throughout the year when certain countries go onto, or off of, Daylight Saving Time?
During northern hemisphere summer, the U.S. (meaning the New York session) observes Daylight Saving Time, and the U.K. (meaning the London session) observes British Summer Time. But the starting and ending dates of U.S. Daylight Saving Time do not coincide with the starting and ending dates of British Summer Time.
GMT does not change at any time of year.
The result of all of this is that the “opening” and “closing” times of the New York session and the London session change in terms of GMT, twice for each session each year, but on different dates.
Finally, Japan (meaning the Tokyo session) does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so the “opening” and “closing” of the Tokyo session remain unchanged in terms of GMT throughout the year.
Here are the change dates for U.S. Daylight Saving Time (DST) and U.K. British Summer Time (BST), going back 3 years, and forward 3 years (Source: www.timeanddate.com).
Note: all dates are Sundays:
2016
- March 13 – U.S. begins DST
- March 27 – U.K. begins BST
- October 30 – U.K. ends BST
- November 6 – U.S. ends DST
2017
- March 12 – U.S. begins DST
- March 26 – U.K. begins BST
- October 29 – U.K. ends BST
- November 5 – U.S. ends DST
2018
- March 11 – U.S. begins DST
- March 25 – U.K. begins BST
- October 28 – U.K. ends BST
- November 4 – U.S. ends DST
2019
- March 10 – U.S. begins DST
- March 31 – U.K. begins BST
- October 27 – U.K. ends BST
- November 3 – U.S. ends DST
2020
- March 8 — U.S. begins DST
- March 29 – U.K. begins BST
- October 25 – U.K. ends BST
- November 1 – U.S. ends DST
2021
- March 14 – U.S. begins DST
- March 28 – U.K. begins BST
- October 31 – U.K. ends BST
- November 7 – U.S. ends DST
Using these time-change dates, we can construct the following table (all times shown are GMT):
2016
-
Tokyo Session – 2300-0800 throughout the year
-
London Session –
January 1 - March 25 – 0800-1700
March 28 - October 28 – 0700-1600
October 31 - December 30 – 0800-1700
-
New York Session –
January 1 - March 11 – 1300-2200
March 14 - November 4 – 1200-2100
November 7 - December 30 – 1300-2200
2017
-
Tokyo Session – 2300-0800 throughout the year
-
London Session –
January 2 - March 24 – 0800-1700
March 27 - October 27 – 0700-1600
October 30 - December 29 – 0800-1700
-
New York Session –
January 2 - March 10 – 1300-2200
March 13 - November 3 – 1200-2100
November 6 - December 29 – 1300-2200
2018
-
Tokyo Session – 2300-0800 throughout the year
-
London Session –
January 1 - March 23 – 0800-1700
March 26 - October 26 – 0700 -1600
October 29 - December 31 – 0800-1700
-
New York Session –
January 1 - March 9 – 1300-2200
March 12 - November 2 – 1200-2100
November 5 - December 31 – 1300-2200
2019
-
Tokyo Session – 2300-0800 throughout the year
-
London Session –
January 1 - March 29 – 0800-1700
April 1 - October 25 – 0700-1600
October 28 - December 31 – 0800-1700
-
New York Session –
January 1 - March 8 – 1300-2200
March 11 - November 1 – 1200-2100
November 4 - December 31 – 1300-2200
2020
-
Tokyo Session – 2300-0800 throughout the year
-
London Session –
January 1 - March 27 – 0800-1700
March 30 - October 23 – 0700-1600
October 26 - December 31 – 0800-1700
-
New York Session –
January 1 - March 6 – 1300-2200
March 9 - October 30 – 1200-2100
November 2 - December 31 – 1300-2200
2021
-
Tokyo Session – 2300-0800 throughout the year
-
London Session –
January 1 - March 26 – 0800-1700
March 29 - October 29 – 0700-1600
November 1 - December 31 – 0800-1700
-
New York Session –
January 1 - March 12 – 1300-2200
March 15 - November 5 – 12100-2100
November 8 - December 31 – 1300-2200