Forex trading is an altogether a totally different beast as compared to stock trading. One of the major differences between the forex and stock markets is that forex markets are open 24 hour, 5 days a week while stock markets have fixed timings. For example New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open from 9:00 AM to 4:00 Pm. You can only trade stocks at NYSE during this time.
This continuous 24 hour trading at the forex markets is something quite novel for many new traders. Forex is traded Over the Counter (OTC) meaning there is no Central Exchange. Forex market is a global market. When one center is opening, another center is closing. This is very important for a new forex trader to understand.
For a new forex trader, it becomes very difficult to understand when to trade and when not to trade as there is no formal open and close of the market. Many exhaust themselves by sitting in front of their computers all day. Fatigue them and make wrong decisions. An easy way is to divide the day between three 8 hour sessions.
Further divide each 8 hour session into two 4 hour sessions using a 4 hour chart. This division of 24 hours is logical as there are only three major money centers in the world that have the capacity to move the forex markets.
The three major money centers that affect the forex markets everyday are namely: Asia, London and New York. We will call our three trading sessions, the Asian, the London and the New York Session.
Asian Market Session: Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore are the main cities that participate in this session. Major players are the export corporations and the central banks. Sydney opens and with that the forex markets become alive each day. Most of the price action that takes place in this session is unsustainable and jumpy.
London Market Session: London is the center of the global forex markets. The price action that takes place during this session forms the trend in the rest of the day trading. London forex markets are deep and highly developed. London market is also assisted by Paris, Geneva and Frankfurt. Since lot of money is needed to move this market, these moves give a lot of information for the traders.
New York Session: New York comes as the second forex center after London. Both these markets overlap in the morning when New York is opening and London is closing. This is the time when lot of action takes place.
These timings are important for you to know: 00:00 GMT-Sydney starts trading. 11:00 GMT-London trading starts. 15:00 GMT- London trading becomes very active. 17:00 GMT- London trading is active and New York trading opens. 18:00 GMT- London and European trading closes! 19:00 GMT- New York and Chicago traders getting ready for a close!
The overlap between London and New York is when major price moves take place. London is in fact the trend setter in forex as well as fashion.
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