A Guide to Forex Market Timing

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In the fast-paced world of global finance, understanding how and when to do currency trading is crucial. It is here that the foreign exchange market, or Forex, comes into play. It's a marketplace where people and businesses can buy and sell currencies. Additionally, Forex operates 24 hours a day unlike the stock market which works for limited duration, except on weekends. Moreover, there are four continents involved here: Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America, each with its own forex market timing.

When it comes to Forex trading, timing is everything. The market is always open, so traders can take advantage of opportunities whenever they arise. However, depending on which region is active, trading volume and activity can vary throughout the day. Here, in this article, let's discuss more about forex market timing in detail.

Understand Forex Market Timing

The foreign exchange market is mostly unregulated and decentralised. Due to different time zones, foreign exchange is open 24 hours a day, except on weekends. Additionally, there are four continents that drive the global foreign exchange trade: Australia (Sydney), Asia (Tokyo), Europe (London), and North America (New York). Trading volume varies from one session to another. But when London and New York overlap, it's busiest.

While Tokyo is generally considered Asia's top session, Singapore and Hong Kong have overtaken Japan in trading volume in the past decade.

 

Forex Trading Timing

These are the Forex trading timings for the four continents.

Austrialia: 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM UTC   

Asia: 11:00 PM to 8:00 AM UTC   

Europe: 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM UTC   

North America: 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM UTC

The Forex trading timing starts with the Australian session, followed by Asian, European and US. There is the most activity during the European session, as reflected by the UK accounting for 38% of the global forex trade turnover. When two sessions overlap, the markets are most active and liquid, which is the best forex trading times. When the forex trading times of the two biggest trading centres, European and the US, overlap, that is between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM UTC, it is the most liquid time.

Forex Trading Time In India

Forex is one of the most diversified markets in the world. A central bank, hedge fund, and sometimes even tourists are involved in some way.

There is a currency trading marketplace in India where people can buy and sell marketplace currency derivatives. The market consists of exchanges, brokers, and participants, such as businesses, banks, and individual traders.

In currency pairings, you can either trade quotes that include INR or ones that do not. As a result of this distinction, both kinds of currency pairings have different forex currency trading times in India today. In spite of this, there is considerable overlap between forex currency trading times for trading any currency type.

Forex Currency Trading Times In India

You can buy and trade futures for currency pairs during these Forex Currency Trading Times in India:

  • Opening Time: 9:00 a.m.
  • Closing Time: 5.00 p.m.

Forex market opening time in India is at 9.00 a.m., three and a half hours after Japan's and two and a half hours after Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore's.

Moreover, overlapping marketplaces are known to influence the liquidity and volatility of some currency pairings, especially if the quotation or base is often traded, like the JPY.

By the time the Indian forex market shuts down at 5 p.m., there's a lot of overlap with European markets, especially Germany and the UK. As a result, GBP-INR and EUR-INR currency pairs are impacted.

When Is The Best Forex Trading Time In India?

The best Forex Trading Time In India is 9.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., with cross-currency trade continuing until 7.30 p.m. However, India's currency market hours aren't always consistent in terms of liquidity and variability.

Due to overlapping trade sessions around the world, they differ. Also, few criteria determine whether a currency pair sees more or less trading activity. The first is related to a country's business hours. If USD is the quotation or base currency, a currency pair using USD may have a lot of liquidity. Experts also believe that forex market timings in India today coincide with lots of trading sessions around the world, causing a spike in trading.

Conclusion

Successful currency trading requires an understanding of forex market timing. There are four major continents driving the forex market: Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. Also, throughout the day, trading volume varies, with the European session being the busiest.
In India, the forex market opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m. If you're getting into forex trading in India or anywhere else, you need to know what time the market opens and closes. You can get advanced trading apps like blinkX trading app for real-time information, tools, and a user-friendly interface for currency trading.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Forex market timing in India is 9:00 AM IST to 5:00  PM IST

There's trading on the forex market 24 hours a day except on weekends.

The London market operates from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). In the New York market, trading takes place from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. UTC. The Sydney market operates from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. UTC, while the Tokyo market is active from 12 a.m. to 9 a.m. UTC.

In India, forex trading is illegal since there's no regulation from the Security Exchange Board of India. RBI bans Indian citizens from trading foreign currencies. Due to the lack of central exchange, it's hard to control and regulate currency trading in India.

Citizens can't conduct forex transactions for reasons other than those allowed by the FEMA, according to the RBI. Also, non-authorised trading platforms will be penalised by the RBI.