When Can You Trade Forex: London Session

Their European colleagues are just starting their day, just as Asian market participants are closing stores.

There are several financial centers throughout Europe, but market participants are focusing more on London.

Historically, London has always been a trading center, thanks to its strategic location.

Today London is benefiting from that time zone. London mornings cross late Asian trade and London afternoons cross New York City.

No wonder it is considered the world's forex capital, with thousands of people trading every minute.

About 43% of all forex trading takes place in London.

Some traders call the London session a “European” trading session.

In addition to London, there are also major European financial centers such as Geneva, Frankfurt, Zurich, Luxenburg, Paris, Hamburg, Edinburgh and Amsterdam.

We built a Forex Market Hours tool that will automatically convert all four trading sessions in your local time zone. Use it as a reference until you remember the market hours from memory.

Below is a table of the London session pip ranges of the major currency pairs.

These pip values were calculated using historical averages. This is not an absolute value and is subject to liquidity and other market conditions.

Also, session ranges for EUR/CHF were not included as the Swiss franc was pegged to the euro at 1.2000 during that period.

Here are some interesting facts about the European session.

• Most Forex trading takes place during this period as the London session overlaps the other two major trading sessions and London is the main financial center. The result is higher liquidity and potentially lower transaction costs, i.e. smaller pip spreads.

• London trading sessions are usually the most volatile as there are many trades.

• Most trends start with the London session and generally continue until the New York session.

• Volatility tends to subside mid-session as traders often go out for lunch before waiting for the New York trading period to begin.

• The trend could be reversed at the end of the London session as European traders may decide to take a profit.

Which Pairs Should You Trade？

Due to the volume made during the European session, almost any pair is liquid enough to be traded.

Of course, it is best to use the major currencies with the narrowest spreads (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and USD/CHF).

Also, it is these pairs that are usually directly affected by news coverage during European sessions.

You can also try the yen cross (more precisely, EUR / JPY and GBP / JPY). This is because volatility is very high these days.

Since these are cross pairs, the spread may be slightly wider.

Next, we will hold a session in New York, the jungle where dreams are are made of. Hey, isn't that an Alicia Keys song？