Forex Trading Hours
The Forex market is supposedly the largest trading market, with zooming daily volumes up to $1.5 trillion. Forex trading is the process of buy and sell of global currencies. Counter parties to the trades are wide spread across the globe and thus the different time zones are considered while trading.
The markets are broadly divided geography wise into three regions viz. Australia-Asia, Europe and America. Each trading day opens with the Australia-Asia market, then followed by Europe and America. From the below, you can get an idea on how the markets follow each other and facilitate 24 hours operations.
Tokyo 7.00 PM EST to 4.00 AM EST
Hong-Kong / Singapore 9.00 PM EST to 6.00 AM EST
Frankfurt 2:00 AM EST to 11.00 AM EST
London 3.00 AM EST to 12.00 PM EST
New York 8.00 AM EST to 5.00 PM EST
Sydney 5.00 PM EST to 2.00 AM EST
Asia closes by 4:00 AM EST and European markets are trading high at this time.
Europe closes by 12.00 PM EST and American markets are trading high at this time.
New York closes at 5.00 PM EST and Australia opens for trading, followed by Tokyo again at 7.00 PM EST.
That is how the Forex trading takes place without any interruptions, round the clock. You may also find overlaps at some point of time, when two of the markets are open during the same hours. For instance, London and Tokyo are both open together only between 3.00-4.00 AM. However, it must also be taken into consideration that trading volumes go high during such overlaps.
If you are looking for broking firms, check out if their business hours cover most of the time zones. Most of the firms operate from Sunday 2:30 PM EST to Friday 4:30 PM EST. Availability of the broking firm is essential for you take leverage of trades in different currencies.