Module 2: The Markets · Lesson 8/40
7 min 40 XP
Forex is open 24 hours on weekdays, but it is not equally alive at every hour. Liquidity travels around the globe as financial centers wake up and go to sleep: Sydney → Tokyo → London → New York, then back to Sydney. When a center is open, the currencies and themes it cares about move; when it sleeps, those same pairs can drift sideways for hours. Trading the right pair at the wrong hour is like surfing with no waves.
Two windows matter most. The London–New York overlap (roughly early-to-mid US morning) is the single most active period in all of forex: both giants are open, the biggest economic releases land, and trends extend with conviction. The Tokyo–London overlap is smaller but can kick off the European session's direction. If you only have a few hours to trade, spending them inside an overlap is one of the highest-leverage decisions a beginner can make.
Match the pair to the clock
Trade what is *in season*: EUR/USD and GBP/USD during London/NY, JPY and AUD pairs during Asia. And remember the flip side, the quiet Asian session is often where the ranges form that London then breaks. Knowing the hour tells you whether to expect chop or trend.