The forex market is global and is open 24 hours a day on weekdays:
It opens at 0:00 CET (GMT + 2) on Monday
It closes at 22:00 CET (GMT + 2) on Friday
It's closed on Saturday and Sunday as most banks are shut and liquidity is low
There are four regional trading sessions:
Asia – Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore
Europe – Frankfurt and London
America – New York and Chicago
Pacific – Wellington and Sydney
Each session has unique characteristics; you need to understand these to get the most out of each market.
Asia
The most active currency pairs traded in this session are as follows:
USDJPY - US dollars to Japanese Yen
EURUSD - US dollars to Euros
EURJPY - Euros to Japanese Yen
AUDUSD - Australian dollars to US dollars
Europe
This is an active session, and there can be significant exchange rate fluctuations due to the trading volume of Euro-based financial instruments:
Volatility increases when the London market opens
Activity decreases during lunch
Activity rises again during the afternoon
America
The most active forex trading begins when New York opens and European traders return from lunch. The American session has the following characteristics:
Volatility is low since American and European banks have similar levels of influence
Volatility can increase once European markets close – especially on Fridays
