When Europe is open for business, pairs that involve the euro (EUR) or British pound (GBP) are more actively traded. When the U.S. and Canada are open for business, pairs that involve the U.S. dollar (USD) and Canadian dollar (CAD) are more active. If day trading the EUR/USD, the times that are likely to be most active for the pair, on average, will be when exchanges in London and New York are open. Those markets are open between 0800 and 2200 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). To see major market hours in your own timezone, or your broker’s (charts) time zone, use the forex market hours tools. Day traders should ideally trade between 0700 and 2000 GMT. Trading outside of these hours, the pip movement may not be large enough to compensate for the spread or commissions. Volatility changes over time, but the most volatile hours generally do not change too much. 0700 to 2000 GMT will continue to be the most acceptable time to day trade, regardless of whether daily volatility increases or decreases. Note that daylight savings time may affect trading hours in your area. London and New York are both open during this three-hour window. That means a lot of volume coming in from two major markets, so spreads are typically tightest during this time.
