Trade Stock Indices

Trading Market Hours and The 3 Major Sessions

London Close Charts

To get the most chances to trade during these Index times, it's key to know when the trading market is busiest. This is when most of the trading happens.

Even though there aren't official open and close times during the week, you can break things up into three main index sessions - Tokyo, London, and New York.

However, although it seems not to be very crucial at the start, the correct time to trade is one of the most important points required to be a successful trader.

The optimal time for trading is when the market is most active, resulting in the highest transaction volume. A more active market presents a favorable opportunity for profit, whereas a calm and slow market is essentially a waste of your time - turn off your desktop computer and refrain from trading during such periods.

Not all the times are suitable, that is because the volatility keeps changing. Below is a guide outlining the schedule of Index Sessions. The time used is GMT 0

The Most Active Trading Market Session Overlaps and The 3 Major Sessions

The 3 major sessions are:

  1. Asian Session Times( Tokyo ): 00:00 - 9:00 GMT
  2. European Session Hours( London ): 7:00 to 17:00 GMT
  3. U.S. Session Times( New York ): 13:00 - 22:00 GMT

Index Sessions Overlaps

There are hours when 2 sessions are overlapped:

London + Tokyo over-lap - 7:00 to 9:00 GMT

New York + London over-lap - 13:00 - 17:00 GMT

Overlap hours bring top trade volume. You get more win trades then.

Most trades occur between the London session and the US market session. This period offers the top chance to make gains.

Prices change a lot during the New York and London times because big companies, funds, and banks are open for trading.

During this period, multinational companies will engage in trading indices to support international business activities. Hedge funds and managed funds will also participate in index trading for investment reasons. Meanwhile, banks will facilitate significant monetary exchanges for clients, which might include tourists traveling worldwide or individuals needing to convert currency for purchases or transactions in other countries.

This makes the trading market very active at this time, and the large number of trades means prices change a lot. Usually, charts will move in a certain way and create a short trend at this time.

As a trader, you may want to participate when others are placing their orders since this is when there is sufficient liquidity and numerous opportunities to profit. With high liquidity, price movements tend to be more predictable, unlike periods of low liquidity that can lead to erratic price movements constrained within a range without a clear direction.

Once you trade indices for a while you will get to know that is easier to make money when the trading market is moving up or moving down, unlike when it is in a range.

Asian Session Characteristics:

  1. Least volatile of the 3 sessions
  2. Account for 15 % of daily transaction turnover
  3. Typical 20 -30 pips moves

European Session Characteristics:

  1. Most volatile of the 3 sessions
  2. 35 % of daily transaction volume
  3. Typical 90 -150 pip moves

USA Session Characteristics:

  1. 2nd most volatile of the 3 sessions
  2. Accounts for 25% of daily trade turnover
  3. Focuses on US economic news

US & Europe Market Session Overlaps Characteristics:

  1. Combines the two most volatile trading sessions
  2. Accounts for 60 % of the total daily transaction turnover
  3. Focuses on US & European economic/fundamental news
  4. Fast moving prices and trends in a particular direction

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