IC Markets
The forex market is often described as 24 hours, which is only two-thirds true. It runs 24 hours a day for five days a week, closing over the weekend, and it thins out or closes for major holidays. Individual instruments like gold, indices and stocks have their own, shorter sessions. This guide covers when the market is closed and why.
The weekly schedule
Forex opens Sunday at around 5pm New York time, when the Sydney and then Tokyo sessions begin, and closes Friday at around 5pm New York time, when New York wraps up. Between Friday evening and Sunday evening there is no trading: the interbank market that underpins retail forex is closed, so brokers cannot price or fill orders. Your platform will show the market as closed and pending orders wait until the Sunday open.
| Time (New York) | Status |
|---|---|
| Sunday 5pm to Friday 5pm | Open, 24 hours |
| Friday 5pm to Sunday 5pm | Closed (weekend) |
| Daily around 5pm | Brief rollover; some platforms pause 1 to 5 minutes |
| Major holidays | Closed or very thin, depending on the market |
Holidays
On days like Christmas, New Year's Day, and Good Friday, most of the world's financial centres are closed and forex liquidity drops to almost nothing or the market closes entirely. Single-country holidays, such as US Independence Day or a UK bank holiday, keep forex open but with thin liquidity in the affected sessions, wider spreads, and erratic moves. Trading a major currency on its home market's holiday is usually a poor idea.
Instrument-specific hours
- Gold and silver follow a schedule close to forex but with a slightly longer daily break and their own holiday calendar.
- Stock indices track their underlying exchange's hours plus some extended-hours trading, and close on that exchange's holidays.
- Single stocks trade only during their exchange's regular session.
- Crypto, where a broker offers it, often trades 24/7 including weekends.
If one instrument is tradeable and another is not, check each one's specification in the platform for its trading hours.
Daylight saving
The open and close are tied to New York time, so when the United States shifts to or from daylight saving, the market open and close move by an hour in your local time, twice a year. Europe and the US change on different dates, so for a couple of weeks each year the session overlaps are an hour off their usual pattern. This is also when the daily rollover time appears to shift on your platform.
Why a 24-hour market still has quiet spells
Even inside the five trading days, forex is not uniformly active. The stretch after the New York close and before Tokyo builds up, roughly the middle of the night in New York, is thin: spreads widen, moves are small and choppy, and a trend rarely develops. By contrast, the London open and the London to New York overlap are the busiest, deepest-liquidity hours. If your platform is on and prices are barely moving, you may simply be in the quiet window rather than facing a technical problem. The spread guide covers how this affects your cost of trading.
What to do when the market is closed
- Do your analysis and mark your levels; the weekend is a good time to plan without price moving.
- Set pending orders that will trigger at the Sunday open if your plan calls for it, and size them for a possible weekend gap.
- Do not leave large leveraged positions open over the weekend just because you cannot close them; that is the classic gap risk.
- Check the economic calendar for the week ahead so you know which sessions to avoid.
Sara tried to place a EUR/USD trade on a Saturday and thought her account was broken. Forex is closed from Friday evening to Sunday evening New York time; there was simply no market. Her pending order executed at the Sunday open. She now keeps the weekly schedule in mind and does her analysis on the weekend rather than expecting to trade.
Forex is 24 hours for five days, not seven. It closes Friday evening New York time and reopens Sunday evening, and it goes quiet or shut on the big global holidays. If you cannot open a trade, check the day and the instrument's own hours before assuming something is wrong. The weekend is the most common answer.
Frequently asked
When is the forex market open?
From Sunday around 5pm New York time to Friday around 5pm New York time, 24 hours a day for those five days. It is closed over the weekend because the interbank market that underpins retail forex is closed, so brokers cannot price or fill orders.
Why can't I trade forex on the weekend?
The underlying interbank market is closed from Friday evening to Sunday evening New York time. Your broker has no live prices to quote or fill against, so the platform shows the market as closed and pending orders wait for the Sunday open.
Is forex open on holidays?
On major global holidays like Christmas and New Year's Day, most financial centres are closed and forex is shut or extremely thin. On single-country holidays the market stays open but liquidity in that session is low and spreads widen.
Why do my trading hours shift twice a year?
The market open, close and daily rollover are tied to New York time. When the US moves to or from daylight saving, those times shift by an hour in your local time. Europe and the US change on different dates, so session overlaps are briefly off their usual pattern.
Do all instruments have the same hours?
No. Gold and silver follow a schedule close to forex with a slightly longer break. Stock indices and single stocks follow their exchange's hours and holidays. Crypto, where offered, often trades 24/7. Check each instrument's specification in the platform.