Forex trading leads the way for countless opportunities, so knowing specific information regarding the trading hours in South Africa is advisable. That being said, it’s worth noting that the Forex market is open 5 times a week, 24 hours.
Still, the question that naturally follows is: when is the best time for South Africans to consider forex trading?
Essentially, there are certain moments when both volume and liquidity are higher. These are, actually, the times when it is highly recommended to trade. Before we get to that, though, we should mention that there are four fundamental Forex trading sessions.
The opening and closing hours depend on the biggest financial centers around the world – namely:
- Sydney (Australian trading session)
- Tokyo (Asian trading session)
- London (European trading session)
- New York (US trading session)
What are the best forex trading hours in South Africa?
In simple terms, the perfect forex trading hours are whenever the number of active traders is higher.
When does this happen?
Usually, this happens at times when different market hours overlap.
This leads to higher volatility and volume. When the trade volume is higher, currencies are prone to move quicker. Additionally, during these timeframes, significant economic news is prone to be publicly announced.
That being said, which are the hot zones for trading in South Africa?
“When London and Tokyo’s markets overlap, this could be a good time for trading. This would be between 9am and 10am – in South African time. Another option worth mentioning is when the markets in New York and London overlap – this would be between 3pm and 7pm in South African time”
Concurrently, many traders indicated that, for the most part, the EUR pairs and GBP pairs are widely traded during the London Session. Of course, every trader has a specific, individualized strategy that can be more or less successful, depending on the time.
Below interactive graph shows you always up to date forex market times in GMT (Greenwich mean time).
Other Opportunities
In case you are from SA and want to you might be interested to read our review of top 8 forex brokers in South Africa. Moving on, what other opportunities are there when it comes to Forex trading?
Another key strategy is keeping an eye out for the release of official economic news or government reports. Typically, governments supply timetables indicating when such news is likely to be released. Nevertheless, bear in mind that releases between different countries aren’t usually coordinated.
Simultaneously, you should get informed about critical indicators published by major countries. Why should you do that? It’s simple: because these usually overlap with some of the most active movements when it comes to Forex trading. When the activity increases, this translates into more opportunities in currency prices. In some instances, orders might be executed at unprecedented prices, which are better than what you had expected.
Generally speaking, time is of the essence when it comes to almost any domain; and Forex trading definitely makes no exception to this – quite the contrary. Depending on the timing you choose to get involved in trading, your rate of success could be higher or lower.
Nevertheless, as a rule of thumb, before you start trading, you should get acquainted with the trading range, highs, lows, as well as economic news that could influence your trades.
Write your comments below this article: “When do you think is the best to trade fx?”