The base reference time for all opening and closing times worldwide is Greenwich Mean Time, commonly abbreviated GMT. Many websites devoted to clarifying forex business hours describe the opening and closing times with three or four significant examples, usually.

One source of confusion for new forex traders has to do with how the various websites choose to present the open and closing time data. In all cases, in order to make a meaningful description of trading hours worldwide, the opening and closing times at each location worldwide need to be presented with a common base reference time. In this article, for instance, the data is referenced to GMT.

Forex Market Trading Hours | World Forex Trading | OANDA

In other articles with a United States orientation, however, the common base reference time often used is Eastern Standard Time. This isn't wrong, but it's a little confusing for readers who don't distinguish between GMT and EST --something few persons other than forex traders and airline personnel need to deal with on a regular basis.

Forex Market Hours - Forex Market Time Converter

Eastern time, however, comes in two flavors: Eastern Standard Time EST and Eastern Daylight Time. The first section of this article notes that at each location the forex is open for eight hours. But other websites on the subject of forex trading hours note that the forex is open "24 best stocks to buy on smartstocks a day.

The explanation isn't complicated, but at first it may seem a little strange and requires a two-part explanation.

First, remember that if it's midnight in New York, when the New York forex market is closed, it's also the middle of the trading day somewhere -- in Tokyo, for instance.

Also keep in mind that the forex is a worldwide market that is entirely virtual. There's no trading pit anywhere. So, yes, at any given trading center, it's an eight hour day.

But that really doesn't matter, because somewhere in the world trading centers are open. You can what time does forex open on sunday est anytime you want, although you should also note that you'll get the narrowest spreads -- the broker's profit margin -- when the maximum number of trading centers are open or, more precisely, when the trading volume for your currency trade is greatest.

Still another source of confusion has to do with how many days a week what time does forex open on sunday est forex is open. Some websites may declare without further explanation that the forex is always "open 24 hours a day" and others, probably the majority, note that the forex market is open "five days a week.

Again, both statements are true enough if you put them in context. The apparent contradiction comes because just as a given trading center is open for eight hours and yet you can trade 24 hours a day, so it is also true that although any given trading center keeps a five day week, somewhere in the world another trading center is open when that trading center is closed.

This is the happy consequence of the way the day of the week shifts forward or back as you cross the international dateline. In short, you can trade any time you want.

That's the basic information you need. Also, at noted, you'll get the best trading spreads when the volume is peaking -- that is, when the greatest number of major trading markets are open. Search the site GO.

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