What is the best time to trade major currency pairs?
The U.S./London markets overlap (8 a.m. to noon EST) has the heaviest volume of trading and is best for trading opportunities. The Sydney/Tokyo markets overlap (2 a.m. to 4 a.m.) is not as volatile as the U.S./London overlap, but it still offers opportunities.
The forex market is usually most active when the market hours overlap between sessions, as this is when the number of traders buying and selling each currency increases. The overlap windows for exchanges are: 1 pm to 4 pm (GMT) when both New York and London exchanges are open.
As a general rule, traders use a ratio of 1:4 or 1:6 when performing multiple timeframe analysis, where a four- or six-hour chart is used as the longer timeframe, and a one-hour chart is used as the lower timeframe.
While there is no undisputed "best" time to trade forex, 8am - 12pm EST is an optimal time for traders to experience high liquidity and volatility. In this four hour period, the London and New York sessions overlap and the US releases a majority of their key economic data points.
As it turns out, there are better days of the week to trade than others. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the three best days of the week to trade. Friday is like a half day and the trading is at its best early in the session.
Major forex pairs, such as EUR/USD (Euro/US dollar), USD/JPY (US dollar/Japanese yen), and GBP/USD (British pound/US dollar), remain attractive options for night trading due to their liquidity and stable price movements. As these are the most traded pairs in forex, many market participants favour them.
- USD/JPY. ...
- USD/CAD. ...
- AUD/USD. ...
- USD/CNY. ...
- USD/CHF. ...
- GBP/JPY. ...
- EUR/CHF. Though EUR/CHF (Euro/Swiss Franc) is not a major currency pair, it is popular among traders, particularly due to its inverse relationship with EUR/USD. ...
- NZD/USD. NZD/USD ("Kiwi") is a popular minor currency pair.
For the US, 8:30am and 10am EST are popular times for data releases. European countries often report data from 2am to 5am EST, and Asian countries from 7pm to 11pm ET. For this reason, the US-European session overlap in the morning is generally most influential for forex traders.
While the summer period (June-August) is speculated to show the least returns for many markets across Europe, August is said to be the worst month to trade. The reason for this is that most institutional investors in Europe and North America go on holiday.
The forex market is open 24 hours a day during weekdays but closes on weekends. Because this market operates in multiple time zones, it can be accessed at any time except for the weekend break. With time zone changes, this break gets squeezed. The forex market opens on Sunday at 5 p.m. local time in New York City.
What is the 11am rule in trading?
The 11 am rule suggests that if a market makes a new intraday high for the day between 11:15 am and 11:30 am EST, then it's said to be very likely that the market will end the day near its high.
Traders that follow the 10 a.m. rule think a stock's price trajectory is relatively set for the day by the end of that half-hour. For example, if a stock closed at $40 the previous day, opened at $42 the next, and reached $43 by 10 a.m., this would indicate that the stock is likely to remain above $42 by market close.
Night trading on the forex markets has advantages for new traders as volatility tends to be lower and for experienced traders using scalping or automatic trading strategies that tend to work well with less volatility.
- Bank Holidays. These are scheduled and there is nothing you can do about it. ...
- News. There are scheduled news releases and economic news throughout any given day. ...
- Speeches. ...
- Erratic Periods. ...
- Weekends. ...
- Market close/open. ...
- December and Summer Holidays.
NYSE Composite Seasonal Patterns
Seasonal charts courtesy of StockCharts.com. The above chart looks at 20 years of data. If we only look at the last 10 years (below), things change a little bit. Worst Months: January, February, March, August, and September are weaker periods.
The best Forex pairs for range trading are currency crosses, which typically exclude the US Dollar. The EUR/CHF and the AUD/NZD are the two leading currency pairs for range-bound markets, but traders can use technical analysis alongside geopolitical events to identify others.
EUR/USD - Average daily pips move over the past ten weeks: 78.31 pips or 0.73% While the EUR/USD is less volatile than other currency pairs that could complete the Top 10, like the USD/RUB, USD/TRY, or USD/ILS, it is the most liquid currency pair traded on the market, accounting for 28% of daily trading volumes with ...
The fastest-moving currency pairs include the currencies of the most developed countries as base or quote currencies, as they represent the most economic activity. They are the USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CHF, CAD, and AUD.
For some forex traders, they feel most comfortable trading the 1-hour charts. This time frame is longer, but not too long, and trade signals are fewer, but not too few. Trading on this time frame helps give more time to analyze the market and not feel so rushed.
EUR/USD “The Fiber” is a combination of the Euro and the US dollar. This is generally considered the most traded currency pair as it stems from two of the world's largest and most reputable economies.
Which currency pair is best for scalping?
Major currency pairs, such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and USD/JPY, are characterized by high liquidity. This makes them suitable for scalping strategies as traders can quickly enter and exit positions without significant slippage.
- Select a currency pair. ...
- Analyze the market. ...
- Read the quote. ...
- Pick your size and position. ...
- Monitor and close your trade.
Typically, the US forex market is most active just after the open of the New York session at 8am (EST). At this time, liquidity and volatility will likely be high as traders begin opening and closing their positions according to the market news for that morning.
Local Time | EST |
---|---|
Sydney Open – 7:00 AM Sydney Close – 4:00 PM | 4:00 PM 1:00 AM |
Tokyo Open – 9:00 AM Tokyo Close – 6:00 PM | 7:00 PM 4:00 AM |
London Open – 8:00 AM London Close – 5:00 PM | 2:00 AM 11:00 AM |
New York Open – 8:00 AM New York Close – 5:00 PM | 8:00 AM 5:00 PM |
Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | |
---|---|---|
Top Earners | $192,500 | $16,041 |
75th Percentile | $181,000 | $15,083 |
Average | $101,533 | $8,461 |
25th Percentile | $57,500 | $4,791 |