Forex trading sessions in South Africa:
- Tokyo – Asia forex trading session – 2:00 am to 11:00 am SAST
- European London forex trading session – 9:00 am to 6:00 pm SAST
- New York forex trading session – 3:00 pm to 12:00 am SAST
- Sydney – Australian forex trading session – 11:00 pm to 8:00 am SAST
When is the best time to trade forex in South Africa?
The best time to trade forex in South African is at key times when Tokyo, London and New York trading sessions overlap. This would be between 9am and 11am and from 3PM until 6PM in South African standard time (SAST).
You can spot a lot of great trading opportunities also when the markets in New York and London forex trading sessions overlap – this would be between 3pm and 7pm in SAST.
During these key times there is logically 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.
Asia Forex Trading Session in South Africa
Open 2:00 am – Close 11:00 am SAST time.
Asia forex session (Tokyo as the main Asian forex hub) is known for its lower forex markets volatility and liquidity. Dominated by highest volume in JPY Japanesse jen and also AUD, NZD Australian and New Zealand Dollar.
During the Asia Forex Trading Session, you should definitely consider trading the USD/JPY pair, as it statistically experiences the largest price movements.
London Forex Trading Session in South Africa
Open 9:00 am – Close 6:00 pm SAST time.
Concurrently, many traders indicated that, for the most part, the EUR pairs and GBP pairs are widely traded during the London or European Forex Trading Session. Of course, every trader has a specific, individualized strategy that can be more or less successful, depending on the time.
New York Forex Trading Session in South Africa
Open 3:00 pm – Close 12:00 am SAST time.
New York Forex Session has been always the busiest and also the most liquid with highest volatility.
Logically, US dollar pairs USD are the most traded. During U.S New York session, major pairs, crosses, and emerging market currencies, such as the Mexican Peso and Brazilian Real, are traded frequently.
The overlap between the London session and the New York session creates a period of heightened activity.
During the U.S. Trading Session, you should definitely consider trading the EUR/USD pair, as it statistically experiences the largest price movements.
Interactive graph with live forex market times in GMT
Other Trading Opportunities
In case you are from SA and want to you might be interested to read our review of the best 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?”
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