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Trading Session

The document summarizes the major foreign exchange (forex) trading sessions - Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. It provides details on the opening and closing times of each session, the major currencies traded, and what types of market movements and volatility to expect during each session period. The Tokyo and London sessions account for the largest percentages of global forex trading volume at around 20% and 43% respectively.

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256 views

Trading Session

The document summarizes the major foreign exchange (forex) trading sessions - Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. It provides details on the opening and closing times of each session, the major currencies traded, and what types of market movements and volatility to expect during each session period. The Tokyo and London sessions account for the largest percentages of global forex trading volume at around 20% and 43% respectively.

Uploaded by

Amaitem Udoh
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Asian Trading Session

Although the first sunrise is observed in New Zealand, the major trading activities

begin in Tokyo (Japan). It begins at 7 PM and ends at 4 AM. With the opening, the

Tokyo session takes the bulk of the Asian forex trading. The majority of forex

transactions happen in USD/JPY currency pair. GBP/CHF and GBP/JPY also see a

fair amount of trading. Japan is the third-largest forex trading spot in the world,

accounting for nearly 20% of all the forex transactions during Asian trading

sessions.

However, it’s not just the Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong are also important

forex centers in the Asian market. Interestingly, these two centers are seeing more

trading volume presently than Tokyo. While the Japanese forex market accounted

for 4.5%, Singapore and Hong Kong together accounted for 7.6% of the total

volume.

Sydney forex trading session is from 5PM to 2AM.

What to expect during Asian Trading Session?

 The main players during the Tokyo session are central banks and companies. As
Japan is an export-driven economy and China also has the same economic
characteristics, a lot of truncations take place every day.
 Economies located in the Asia Pacific (US, Japan, Australia, etc.) become more active
during the Asian session. That’s why major currency-pair movements are observed in
USD/JPY, AUD/USD, and NZD/USD, rather than non-Asian currency pairs like
USD/EUR or GBP/EUR.
 Most of the movements are observed in early trading sessions.

London Trading Session


European forex market activities begin just when the Asian trading session is about

to close for the day. Although the European session coincides with many forex

markets (Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc.), it is London that dictates the forex market. It

opens at 3AM and closes at 11AM.

London is often considered the financial capital of the world. Due to its location,

the London trading session overlaps with Asian and North American sessions. And

during these overlapping sessions, the market becomes more volatile and many

currency pairs observe major movements. It is no wonder that 43% of all the forex

transactions take place during the London session.

What to expect during London Trading Session?

 Because London’s session overlaps with Asia in the evening and American in the
afternoon, the forex market becomes highly liquid and volatile.
 New York trading session often follows the trends set by London.
 The forex market becomes less volatile during the lunch-break.
 Technical traders often take cues from the London trends.
 EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, and USD/CHF are the most traded currencies
during this session, some of the highest spreads can be observed.

New York Trading Session


Just when European traders are returning to their desks after lunch breaks, the New

York session begins at 8AM. In terms of volume, it is second only to London. It

accounts for nearly 17-18% of all forex transactions. Besides New York, Toronto

and Chicago are also important trading centers. That’s why some traders refer New

York session as the North American trading session. And because US dollars
remain the most traded currency (often dubbed as ‘global trading currency’), much

of the movements are observed in currencies pegged against dollars.

What to expect from the New York Session?

 As it overlaps with the European session for 3-hours, the early sessions are more
volatile and liquid.
 Any announcement by the Federal Reserves or the release of new economic data can
set the tone of the trading day. More than 4/5 of global trades involve the dollar,
which means everything related to dollars can impact the forex market worldwide.
 As European markets end their session around the afternoon, the US market becomes
less volatile. On Friday evening, the market observes very little movement.
 You can virtually trade in any currency pair involving dollars, but sticking to major
pairs like USD/EUR, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD, is certainly a good idea.

Trading
EST GMT+1 Major traded currencies
Session
Open: 3PM Open:10PM Close: AUD/CAD, AUD/CHF, AUD/JPY,
Sydney
Close: 12AM 7AM AUD/NZD, GBP/JPY, NZD/JPY
Open: 7PM Open: 1AM Close: JPY/USD, AUD/JPY, EUR/JPY,
Tokyo
Close: 4AM 10AM NZD/USD, NZD/JPY
Open: 3AM Open: 8AM Close: GBP/USD, EUR/CHF, USD/CHF,
London
Close: 11AM 4PM GBP/JPY
Open: 8AM Open: 1PM Close: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD,
New York
Close: 5PM 10PM EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY, USD/CHF

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