Forex Market Hours in Australian Time Explained

The forex market runs continuously from Monday morning in Sydney until the New York close on Friday. For an Australian trader that means the week opens around 7am Monday and closes early Saturday morning local time, with no break in between.

That continuity is the source of most of the confusion. A market that never closes during the week still has hours that are busy and hours that are dead, and the busy hours for an Australian sit at an awkward point in the evening. This page sets out exactly when each session runs in Australian time, where the overlaps fall, when spreads widen, and how daylight saving moves the whole schedule.

The quick answer

In Australian Eastern Standard Time (April to early October): the trading week opens about 7am Monday and closes about 7am Saturday.

In Australian Eastern Daylight Time (October to early April): the week opens about 7am Monday and closes about 9am Saturday.

Exact open and close times vary slightly between brokers, so check your platform's market hours page for the instrument you trade.

Forex session times in Australian time

The four sessions below are the market convention. They describe when each regional trading centre is active rather than when any exchange opens, since forex has no central exchange.

Two tables follow because the schedule changes with daylight saving. Use the first for roughly April to early October and the second for roughly November to early March. The weeks in between are covered further down.

Table 1 · Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST, UTC+10)

Applies when Australia is on standard time, the UK is on British Summer Time and the United States is on daylight time. This covers most of the Australian winter.

Table 2 · Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT, UTC+11)

Applies when Australia is on daylight time, the UK is on Greenwich Mean Time and the United States is on standard time. This covers most of the Australian summer.

Note what changes between the two tables. The Sydney session stays where it is, because it is defined in local time. Everything else moves by one or two hours, because the foreign centres either did not shift or shifted in the opposite direction.

Session overlaps and what moves in each

An overlap is when two trading centres are active at once. Volume rises, spreads tighten, and moves tend to carry further.

During Australian Eastern Standard Time

During Australian Eastern Daylight Time

Which currencies are active in each session

Sydney and Tokyo. The Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and Japanese yen are at their most active, so pairs combining them see their liveliest trade here. Australian economic releases and Reserve Bank of Australia decisions land in this window, as does Chinese data, which matters to the Australian dollar through the trade relationship.

London. The single largest centre by volume. The euro, British pound and Swiss franc come alive, and volume rises across every pair rather than only European ones. The London open produces a noticeable step change after the quiet late-Asian hours.

New York. The US dollar dominates, and the Canadian dollar becomes more active alongside it. Because the US dollar sits on one side of most major pairs, this session moves almost everything.

The London and New York overlap. Both major centres open simultaneously. This is where the most volume, the tightest spreads and the largest moves of the day occur. For an Australian trader it falls late at night, which is the central scheduling problem this article exists to make clear.

When the US market opens in Australian time

US economic data and the US cash equity session are the two scheduled events that most reliably move currency markets. Here is where they land locally.

Two practical observations from that table.

Federal Reserve decisions land in the small hours or at dawn. During Australian standard time a rate decision arrives at 4am and the press conference runs from around 4:30am. During daylight time it is 6am. Neither is a reasonable hour to be making decisions, which is an argument for having orders already in place rather than intending to react live.

The daily rollover falls in the Australian morning. The forex day ends at 5pm New York time, which is 7am or 9am in Sydney. That is when financing is applied and when spreads are typically at their widest. Australians frequently sit down with a coffee at exactly the wrong moment.

Scheduled release times are published in advance. Check an economic calendar for the specific dates and times rather than relying on the general pattern above, since some releases move and public holidays shift the schedule.

When spreads typically widen

Spread width follows liquidity, and liquidity in forex is concentrated in predictable windows. Times below are given in both Australian configurations.

Two further points worth knowing.

Public holidays thin the market even when it is open. A US or UK bank holiday removes a large share of participants while the market stays technically open. Ranges compress, spreads widen, and moves that do occur can be exaggerated by the absence of the usual two-way flow.

Month end and quarter end distort the late New York session. Large institutional rebalancing flows concentrate in the final hour, which for an Australian falls around 6am to 7am AEST or 8am to 9am AEDT.

If you are not in Sydney

Australian time is not a single thing. Three states and territories do not observe daylight saving at all, which means the gap between them and Sydney changes twice a year.

For a trader in Perth during Australian summer, the London and New York overlap runs from 9pm to 1am rather than midnight to 4am, which is a materially more workable evening. Brisbane and Darwin gain an hour on Sydney over the summer for the same reason.

How daylight saving shifts the schedule

The brief version is that Australia changes its clocks twice a year. The version that matters to a trader is that the schedule shifts six times a year, because Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States all change on different dates and in different directions.

The rules

• Australia starts daylight saving at 2am on the first Sunday in October and ends it at 3am on the first Sunday in April. This applies in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory do not change their clocks.

• The United Kingdom starts British Summer Time on the last Sunday in March and ends it on the last Sunday in October.

• The United States starts daylight time on the second Sunday in March and ends it on the first Sunday in November.

The six changeovers and what each one does

Between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in April there is a stretch of roughly four weeks where the offsets do not match either of the tables above. The same happens for about four weeks between the first Sunday in October and the first Sunday in November. In those windows, work the times out from UTC rather than from memory.

The upcoming Australian changeover is Sunday 4 October 2026, when clocks in the observing states go forward from 2am to 3am. Daylight saving then ends on Sunday 4 April 2027. The Reserve Bank of Australia publishes a daylight saving schedule covering both Australian and overseas changes.

How to avoid getting caught

• Set your platform clock to a fixed reference. Most platforms display server time, which is usually anchored to a European or New York offset and shifts with that region's daylight saving rather than with yours. Know which one yours uses.

• Work from UTC during transition weeks. UTC does not shift. Converting from UTC twice is slower than reading a table and considerably more reliable in late March and October.

• Re-check your alerts after every changeover. Alerts set against local times drift by an hour whenever either end of the calculation moves.

• Put the six dates in your calendar. Four of them are foreign changes that will not be reported in Australian news at all.

Frequently asked questions

What time does the forex market open in Australia?

The trading week opens with the Sydney session at approximately 7am Monday Australian Eastern time and runs continuously until the New York close on Friday. Exact open times vary by broker, typically within an hour either side.

What time does the forex market close on Friday?

At the New York close, 5pm New York time. In Australian Eastern Standard Time that is about 7am Saturday. In Australian Eastern Daylight Time it is about 9am Saturday.

When do US markets open in Australian time?

The US cash equity market opens at 9:30am New York time, which is 11:30pm in Australian Eastern Standard Time and 1:30am in Australian Eastern Daylight Time. Major US economic data is released an hour earlier, at 10:30pm or 12:30am respectively.

What time is the London session in Australian time?

During Australian Eastern Standard Time, London runs from 5pm to 2am. During Australian Eastern Daylight Time it runs from 7pm to 4am. The London open is the point at which volume rises sharply after the quiet late-Asian period.

Are the best hours to trade the same for everyone?

The busiest hours are the same for everyone, and they fall during the London and New York overlap. Whether those are the best hours for you depends on whether you can be present and alert for them. For most Australians the overlap runs from late evening into the early hours, and trading it consistently means either a reshaped sleep schedule or orders placed in advance. The Asia-Pacific window during Australian business hours is quieter, with narrower ranges and wider spreads on non-regional pairs.

Why is my broker's clock different from my local time?

Trading platforms typically display server time rather than your local time, and the server is usually set to a European or New York offset. That clock shifts with its own region's daylight saving, not with Australia's, which is why the difference between your clock and the platform's changes several times a year.

Is the forex market open on weekends?

No. It closes at the New York close on Friday and reopens with the Sydney session on Monday. Prices can move over the weekend in response to news, which is why an instrument frequently reopens at a different level from where it closed.

Do public holidays affect forex trading hours?

The market generally stays open, but liquidity falls substantially when a major centre is on holiday. US and UK bank holidays are the ones to watch, and Japanese holidays noticeably thin the Asian session. Check the holiday schedule on your broker's platform, since some instruments do close.

Which session should an Australian trade?

That depends on your schedule rather than on the market. The Asia-Pacific session fits Australian working hours and is the natural window for Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar and yen pairs. The deepest liquidity across all pairs arrives late in the Australian evening. Both are workable, and the wrong answer is committing to a session you cannot actually be awake for.

Risk warning: CFDs are leveraged products and carry a high level of risk. Losses can exceed the margin committed to a position and can consume your entire account balance. CFDs are not suitable for all investors. Make sure you understand how these products work and whether you can afford the risk of losing your money. This article is educational information only. It is not investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to trade, and it does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Session times are market conventions and may differ from your broker's published trading hours.

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