Trading hours need a date and a time zone, not a fixed offset. Identify the market or broker’s reference clock and convert it for the exact day. A country may have several zones, and seasonal clock changes do not occur together across regions.
The clock change that can shift your session
In 2026 London turns its clock back on October 25 and New York on November 1. Between those changes their time difference shrinks by one hour. Example converting a reference time of 09:30 in New York; this does not confirm any instrument’s opening or holiday schedule:
| 2026 date | New York | London | Bogotá | Mexico City | India (Kolkata) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-23 | 09:30 | 14:30 | 08:30 | 07:30 | 19:00 |
| 2026-10-26 | 09:30 | 13:30 | 08:30 | 07:30 | 19:00 |
| 2026-11-02 | 09:30 | 14:30 | 09:30 | 08:30 | 20:00 |
Sources: GOV.UK, British clock changes and NIST, US daylight-saving rules. Conversions use IANA zones for those dates. The historical tables below belong to the original edition; do not apply their offsets all year. Also check the symbol’s actual broker schedule and holidays.
Not every hour offers the same liquidity or movement. This guide converts the Tokyo, London and New York sessions to New York, London and Latin American time, explains the October and November 2026 clock changes (which shift these windows by an hour) and covers the best hours to trade gold and indices.
How do forex market hours work?
Forex has no headquarters and no opening bell like a stock exchange. It is a network of banks, brokers and institutions that trade non-stop as financial centers open around the world. That is why we talk about sessions:
- Sydney and Wellington: open the week on Sunday afternoon (Americas time).
- Tokyo: more activity in yen pairs (USD/JPY, EUR/JPY).
- London: the most liquid session on its own; many of the day's trends are set here. We cover it in our London session strategy.
- New York: overlaps London for four hours and reacts to US data (payrolls, CPI, Fed decisions).
Session times in UTC
This is the reference in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), used by many platforms and economic calendars:
| Session | US and Europe on summer time | US and Europe on standard (winter) time |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 00:00 – 09:00 | 00:00 – 09:00 |
| London | 07:00 – 16:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 |
| New York | 12:00 – 21:00 | 13:00 – 22:00 |
| London–New York overlap | 12:00 – 16:00 | 13:00 – 17:00 |
In local time the overlap barely moves: it runs from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in New York and from 13:00 to 17:00 in London for most of the year. These times are approximate: each broker can differ slightly by instrument.
Local times until October 24, 2026
Right now the US and Europe are still on summer time, and so is Chile (since September 6):
| Session | New York (ET) | London | Mexico City (UTC-6) | Bogotá / Lima (UTC-5) | Buenos Aires / Santiago / São Paulo (UTC-3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 20:00 – 05:00 | 01:00 – 10:00 | 18:00 – 03:00 | 19:00 – 04:00 | 21:00 – 06:00 |
| London | 03:00 – 12:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 01:00 – 10:00 | 02:00 – 11:00 | 04:00 – 13:00 |
| New York | 08:00 – 17:00 | 13:00 – 22:00 | 06:00 – 15:00 | 07:00 – 16:00 | 09:00 – 18:00 |
| Overlap | 08:00 – 12:00 | 13:00 – 17:00 | 06:00 – 10:00 | 07:00 – 11:00 | 09:00 – 13:00 |
From November 1, 2026 to March 2027
The US returns to standard time on Sunday, November 1, 2026 and Europe on Sunday, October 25. New York and London times stay the same in local terms, but most of Latin America does not change its clocks, so from November 1 the London and New York sessions start one hour later there:
| Session | New York (ET) | London | Mexico City (UTC-6) | Bogotá / Lima (UTC-5) | Buenos Aires / Santiago / São Paulo (UTC-3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 03:00 – 12:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 02:00 – 11:00 | 03:00 – 12:00 | 05:00 – 14:00 |
| New York | 08:00 – 17:00 | 13:00 – 22:00 | 07:00 – 16:00 | 08:00 – 17:00 | 10:00 – 19:00 |
| Overlap | 08:00 – 12:00 | 13:00 – 17:00 | 07:00 – 11:00 | 08:00 – 12:00 | 10:00 – 14:00 |
The mismatch week (October 25–31, 2026): Europe has changed and the US has not. London opens at 08:00 London time, which is 4:00 a.m. in New York, so the overlap lasts five hours: from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. New York time. The same happens in reverse in March 2027: the US springs forward on March 14 and Europe on March 28.
What changes (and what doesn't) in Latin America
- Mexico scrapped daylight saving time in 2022: Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey stay on UTC-6 all year. Two exceptions: some northern border towns (Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Juárez, among others) change with the US, and Quintana Roo (Cancún) is on UTC-5 all year.
- Colombia, Peru and Ecuador are fixed at UTC-5; Venezuela at UTC-4; Argentina and Brazil (Brasília) at UTC-3.
- Mainland Chile uses UTC-3 in summer (September 6, 2026 to April 4, 2027) and UTC-4 in winter.
The London–New York overlap: the best window to trade
Of all the sessions, the London–New York crossover concentrates the most volume and movement: both centers trade at the same time for about four hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. New York time most of the year.
That window is when morning ranges tend to break, spreads are tightest and US data hits hardest; releases usually come out at 8:30 or 10:00 a.m. New York time. For example, the September jobs report came out on Friday, October 2, 2026 at 8:30 a.m. New York time (13:30 in London), and gold moved 40 USD in five minutes.
Best hours to trade gold (XAU/USD) and indices
- Gold (XAU/USD): liquidity picks up at the London open and, above all, in the overlap with New York, when CPI or payrolls (usually the first Friday of the month) are released. More in our gold scalping guide.
- US indices (S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones): the most activity comes with the Wall Street open at 9:30 a.m. New York time and the close at 4:00 p.m. (14:30 and 21:00 in London). More in how to trade the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500.
- European indices (DAX, FTSE 100): they move most in London's first hours, before New York opens.
Practical tips
- Check which time zone your platform uses for candles. Many brokers use server time (often UTC+2 or UTC+3), so the daily candle you see does not start at your local midnight.
- Watch the spread outside the good hours. Trading gold or indices in the thinner Asian session usually costs more in spread.
- Link trading hours to the economic calendar. US data comes out in the New York morning. All of today's times are in today's economic calendar.
- Note the clock-change dates: October 25 (Europe) and November 1, 2026 (US); March 14 and 28, 2027 the other way round.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to trade forex?
The London–New York overlap, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. New York time (13:00 to 17:00 in London). In Latin America, until October 31, 2026, that is 06:00–10:00 in Mexico City and 07:00–11:00 in Bogotá and Lima; from November 1, one hour later.
What time does the forex market open on Sunday?
At 5:00 p.m. New York time, which is 22:00 in London until October 24, 2026 and 21:00 for the week of October 25–31; from November 1 it is 22:00 in London again. Real liquidity arrives with Tokyo.
Do forex hours change with daylight saving time?
In New York and London local time, the sessions barely move. What changes is the time in countries that do not shift their clocks (most of Latin America) and during the weeks when the US and Europe are out of sync.
Why do London and New York hours sometimes shift by an hour?
Because the US and Europe do not change their clocks on the same day. In 2026, Europe returns to standard time on October 25 and the US on November 1: that week, London opens an hour earlier relative to New York and the overlap lasts five hours.
