London Session Time and Gold Trading Hours

The London session time is usually quoted as 08:00–17:00 London time, which is 07:00–16:00 UTC in British summer and 08:00–17:00 UTC in winter. The New York session time is 08:00–17:00 New York time, which is 12:00–21:00 UTC in summer and 13:00–22:00 UTC in winter. They overlap for about four hours each weekday.

Session times are conventions rather than official opening bells. Forex has no single exchange, so different brokers and websites quote slightly different hours. This guide uses the common local-business-hours convention listed by Compare Forex Brokers: Tokyo 09:00–18:00 Tokyo time, London 08:00–17:00 London time, New York 08:00–17:00 New York time. It then converts those hours into UTC, the time zone used everywhere on this site.

London session time

Using that convention, London session time is 08:00–17:00 London time. That is 07:00–16:00 UTC during British summer time and 08:00–17:00 UTC in winter.

New York session time

New York session time is 08:00–17:00 New York time. That is 12:00–21:00 UTC while the US is on daylight time and 13:00–22:00 UTC on standard time. Each year there are a few weeks when the UK and US clocks are out of step, covered in the daylight saving section below.

What are the forex session times in UTC?

UTC never changes for daylight saving, which makes it the clearest reference for session times. Japan also does not change its clocks. The UK and US do, which is why London and New York hours move against UTC.

The table below shows the most common case for each half of the year: "summer" when both the UK and US are on daylight time, and "winter" when both are on standard time.

Session	Local hours	UTC (summer)	UTC (winter)
Tokyo / Asian	09:00–18:00 Tokyo	00:00–09:00	00:00–09:00
London	08:00–17:00 London	07:00–16:00	08:00–17:00
New York	08:00–17:00 New York	12:00–21:00	13:00–22:00
London–New York overlap	—	12:00–16:00	13:00–17:00

To read these on your own clock, add or subtract your time zone's offset from UTC.

A few things to notice:

• Tokyo never moves in UTC, because Japan has no daylight saving.
• London and New York move by one hour in UTC between summer and winter.
• The London and New York opens stay five hours apart for most of the year, because both cities usually change their clocks together. The exception is covered next.

How does daylight saving change session times?

The UK and US change their clocks on different dates, which creates short periods each year where the usual gap between London and New York is four hours instead of five.

• UK rule: clocks go forward one hour at 1am on the last Sunday of March and back at 2am on the last Sunday of October, according to GOV.UK. In 2026 that is 29 March and 25 October; in 2027 it is 28 March and 31 October.
• US rule: daylight saving time begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November, according to NIST. For 2026 that is 8 March to 1 November. Applying the same rule to 2027 gives 14 March to 7 November.

So in 2026 there are two mismatch windows: 8–29 March (US already on daylight time, UK not yet) and 25 October–1 November (UK back on standard time, US not yet). During those weeks:

• London runs 08:00–17:00 UTC and New York 12:00–21:00 UTC, so the two opens are four hours apart instead of five.
• The London–New York overlap stretches to roughly five hours, 12:00–17:00 UTC, as the Compare Forex Brokers page also notes.

If you use alerts or fixed times in your own routine, check them in late March and late October each year.

What is the London–New York overlap?

The overlap is the stretch when both London and New York business hours are open at once. In the usual case it is 12:00–16:00 UTC in summer and 13:00–17:00 UTC in winter.

Many traders watch this window because two of the main trading centres are working at the same time, so more banks, funds and other participants are placing orders. That does not mean every overlap is busy, or that movement in it is predictable. It just means more participants are usually at their desks.

What are ICT killzones?

"Killzones" is a term from ICT (Inner Circle Trader) teaching. It refers to a few short windows around session opens that ICT followers single out for looking at setups. Versions differ between educators and over time, so there is no single official list.

As one example, the Writofinance kill zones converter lists these windows in UTC:

• Asian kill zone: 00:00–03:00 UTC
• London kill zone: 07:00–10:00 UTC
• New York kill zone: 12:00–15:00 UTC
• London close kill zone: 15:00–17:00 UTC

Treat these as a naming convention. A window being labelled a killzone does not make trades inside it more likely to work.

Why do session opens matter?

The reasoning is mostly qualitative. When a major centre opens, banks, funds and corporate desks in that region start working orders. Prices that held quietly overnight can start to move as that new order flow arrives.

Session opens also create reference levels. The high and low of the Asian session, and the previous day's high and low, are levels many traders mark before London opens. In smart money concepts, a move through one of those levels that then closes back inside is called a liquidity sweep. Our gold analysis today page marks these levels for the current session and shows which ones gold has already swept.

None of this guarantees movement at any particular time. Quiet opens happen, and large moves can start in the middle of a session on news. Choosing a chart timeframe that fits the hours you can actually watch matters just as much; see the best timeframe for day trading.

Gold trading hours: when can you trade gold?

Gold trades nearly 24 hours a day on weekdays, but exact gold trading hours depend on what you are trading.

• COMEX gold futures (GC): per the CME Group contract specs, CME Globex trades Sunday to Friday from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. New York time, with a 60-minute break each day. In UTC that is 22:00 Sunday to 21:00 Friday, with the daily break at 21:00–22:00, while New York is on daylight time, and one hour later (23:00 Sunday to 22:00 Friday, break at 22:00–23:00) on standard time.
• Spot gold / XAUUSD CFDs at brokers: hours are set by each broker and usually follow a similar weekday schedule with a short daily pause. For example, RoboMarkets' XAUUSD specification lists a session of 01:05–23:55 without stating a time zone, which shows why you should check gold trading hours on your own broker's spec page.

As for the "best time to trade gold", there is no single answer that holds for everyone. Many traders focus on the London morning and the New York morning because those are when the major centres are active, but that is a preference, not a rule.

How our bots use sessions

All four bots on this site run the same fixed smart money concepts rules as code. No AI model and no news decides buy, sell or hold. The full rules are on the methodology page.

Session filtering applies to the two shorter-term bots:

• The Scalper (15-minute setup chart, 4-hour trend filter) and the Basic Day bot (1-hour chart, 4-hour trend) only signal in London 07:00–10:00 UTC and New York 12:00–16:00 UTC.
• Those windows are fixed in UTC, so they do not move with daylight saving. On a London or New York clock they start an hour earlier in winter than in summer.
• Gold may also signal outside those windows, but those signals are capped at Medium confidence and labelled as outside the session.
• Both bots watch the previous day's levels and the Asian session's levels for liquidity sweeps.

The Advance Day and Swing bots can signal in any session. Whatever the bot, a signal still needs a sweep, a structure shift, a return to the order block and agreement with the higher-timeframe trend, otherwise the answer is HOLD. The site publishes no win rates or profit figures for any bot.

FAQ

What time does the London session open in UTC?

Using the 08:00 London open, it is 07:00 UTC during British summer time and 08:00 UTC in winter. UTC doesn't change its clocks, so the shift comes entirely from the UK.

What time does the New York session open in UTC?

Using an 08:00 New York open, it is 12:00 UTC while the US is on daylight time and 13:00 UTC on standard time. Some sources quote a slightly different start, so check the convention your platform uses.

Is gold traded 24 hours a day?

Close to it on weekdays. COMEX gold futures trade from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon with a 60-minute daily break (22:00 UTC Sunday to 21:00 UTC Friday while New York is on daylight time), and broker CFD hours vary.

Do the bots' session windows change with daylight saving?

No. The Scalper and Basic Day windows are fixed in UTC: London 07:00–10:00 UTC and New York 12:00–16:00 UTC, all year.

This is educational content, not financial advice.