The Forex trading week starts with the opening of financial centers in New Zealand and Australia followed by Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore followed by Frankfurt and London followed by New York.
By the time the North American banks close for the day, the foreign exchange trading starts in New Zealand again. Therefore traders distinguish 3 major trading sessions: Asian, European and North American.
Asian Forex trading session:
The Asian trading session starts around 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time with the opening of financial centers in Brisbane, New Zealand and ends around 2:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time with the closing of financial centers in Tokyo, Japan.
European Forex trading session:
The European trading session starts around 1:00 am EST with the opening of financial centers in Frankfurt, Germany and ends around 10:00 a.m. EST with the closing of financial centers in London, UK.
North American Forex trading session:
The North American trading session starts and ends with the activity of financial centers in New York, USA. Their early activity starts around 6:00 a.m. EST and ends around 5:00 p.m. EST.
Forex Prime Time
The prime time in Forex is the time when European and North American trading sessions overlap, which is from 7:00 am until around noon Eastern Standard Time.
This is the busiest and the most liquid time of trading in Forex. The trading volume starts to decrease around 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. That is the reason we do not open new positions after that time.