Forex market hours in IST: when each session opens in India
By World Macro News ยท Updated 2026-10-26
The currency market trades around the clock from Monday morning in Asia to Friday evening in New York. It is not one exchange but a chain of trading centres, and each one has a busy "session". India does not change its clocks, but the US, UK and Australia do, so the IST times move twice a year. This guide gives both versions.
Session times in IST
The sessions below use the commonly quoted local hours of each centre. Brokers and data sites round them slightly differently, so treat the edges as approximate.
| Session | Local hours | IST when the centre is on summer time | IST when the centre is on standard time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM | 1:30 AM to 10:30 AM (October to April) | 2:30 AM to 11:30 AM (April to October) |
| Tokyo | 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM | 5:30 AM to 2:30 PM all year (Japan has no daylight saving) | |
| London | 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM | 12:30 PM to 9:30 PM (late March to late October) | 1:30 PM to 10:30 PM (late October to late March) |
| New York | 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM | 5:30 PM to 2:30 AM (mid March to early November) | 6:30 PM to 3:30 AM (early November to mid March) |
The week opens when Sydney starts on Monday morning, which is late Sunday night or very early Monday in IST. It closes at 5:00 PM New York time on Friday, which is 2:30 AM IST on Saturday in the US summer and 3:30 AM IST in the US winter.
When daylight saving changes
- United States: clocks go forward on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November.
- United Kingdom and Europe: forward on the last Sunday of March, back on the last Sunday of October.
- Australia (Sydney): forward on the first Sunday of October, back on the first Sunday of April.
Because the US and Europe change on different dates, there are a few weeks each spring and autumn when London and New York are only four hours apart instead of five. In those weeks US data still comes out at its usual New York time, but the gap to the London close is shorter. Always check the time on our economic calendar, which lists every event in IST.
The busiest window for Indian traders
The London and New York sessions overlap for about four hours. In IST that is roughly 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM when both are on summer time, and 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM when both are on standard time. Most major US data (jobs, inflation, retail sales) is released at the start of this overlap, so it is usually the most active and the most volatile part of the day for EUR/USD, GBP/USD, gold and the US indices.
The Asian session (roughly 5:30 AM to 2:30 PM IST) is usually quieter for the euro and pound, but it is when the yen, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar react to their own central banks and data.
Practical tips
- Liquidity is thinnest just after the New York close and around the weekly open, so spreads can widen sharply in the early morning hours in IST.
- Gold and oil follow the same rhythm: they move most during London and New York hours and around US data.
- US stock indices (Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100) have their cash session from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM New York time, which is 7:00 PM to 1:30 AM IST in the US summer and 8:00 PM to 2:30 AM IST in the US winter.
See today's market-moving stories on the forex news page.
More guides
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Market information only, not financial advice. Trading forex, gold, oil, crypto, stocks and CFDs carries a high risk of loss. Research is gathered by AI from the linked sources and can contain mistakes; check the source. Prices are snapshots with the time shown. Risk disclaimer.