In Nigeria, the right time to trade forex is between 2 PM to 6 PM local time every day when the London and New York trading sessions overlap. However, many day traders complete trades between 10:15 AM and 2:30 PM because volatility is at its lowest point of the day.
What Time Does Forex Market Open in Nigeria
Currency trading in Nigeria begins at 11 PM on Sunday and then closes at 10 PM Friday every week.
Overview of Forex Trading Sessions
Sessions | Open | Close |
---|---|---|
Sydney | 5AM | 2PM |
Tokyo (Asian) | 1AM | 10AM |
London (Europe) | 9AM | 6PM |
New York (American) | 3PM | 12AM |
- Sydney Session
The Sydney session is open from 5 AM to 2 PM in local Nigerian time.
During this session, the most popular trading pairs are AUD/USD and NZD/USD.
Trading the pair AUD/JPY is also popular during the overlap of the Tokyo and Sydney session.
- Tokyo Session
The Tokyo (Asian) session is open from 1 AM to 10 AM.
During this time, the most popular currency pairs are the following:
- USD/JPY
- EUR/JPY
- GBP/JPY
The Tokyo session is also known for lower liquidity and volatility. That means markets outside of Asia are less likely to make big moves.
This affects common pairs during night trading in Nigeria, such as EUR/USD and GBP/USD.
- London Session
The London or European session, is open from 9 AM to 6 PM.
The currency pairs to keep an eye on during the London trading session are GBP/USD, GBP/USD, and EUR/USD.
Traders see an increase in volatility when shifting from the Tokyo to the London session. Experienced traders can use the heightened volatility to their advantage. The prices from London also lead to an increase in prices or the “average hourly move” on major currency pairs.
- New York Session
The New York / North American session, is open from 3 PM to 12 PM.
The most traded currency pairs during this session are:
- EUR/USD
- GBP/USD
- USD/JPY
Pay attention to the points when two trading sessions overlap. The periods when two markets are open simultaneously are the busiest times of the day. During this time, trades are made at the highest volume.
Local Time Zones Explained
Participating in forex requires knowing when each trading session starts and ends in Nigeria.
Nigeria is located in West Africa, which means the country follows West Africa Time (WAT).
West Africa Standard Time is one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This timezone appears as GMT +1 or UTC +1. West Africa Time does not have an associated daylight savings time, which is important when the seasons change in the countries that do.
Nigeria is eight hours behind Tokyo. Tokyo follows Japan Standard Time (JST), which is UTC/GMT +9. Japan doesn’t follow daylight savings time, so the opening and closing of the Tokyo session remains the same all year long.
When it comes to London and Nigeria, there is only a one-hour difference led by England. London follows Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). England also follows daylight savings time. During daylight savings time, Greenwich Mean Time becomes British Summer Time (BST) GMT +1.
Last but not least, Nigeria is five hours ahead of New York, which follows Eastern Standard Time (EST) or UTC/GMT -5. New York and the rest of the Eastern coast of the United States follow daylight savings time.
Remembering all of this information may seem like a lot at first. But over time, you will get used to the start and end times of each session so you can make the best moves.