Forex market timings in India: the short answer
The forex market runs 24 hours a day from Monday morning to Saturday morning in India. It's made of four main sessions, named after the financial centres that open in turn. Each runs on its own city's local business hours, so its time in IST depends on that city's clock.
| Session | Local hours | IST, northern summer | IST, northern winter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 07:00 – 16:00 | 02:30 – 11:30 | 01:30 – 10:30 |
| Tokyo | 09:00 – 18:00 | 05:30 – 14:30 | 05:30 – 14:30 |
| London | 08:00 – 17:00 | 12:30 – 21:30 | 13:30 – 22:30 |
| New York | 08:00 – 17:00 | 17:30 – 02:30 | 18:30 – 03:30 |
Tokyo never changes because neither Japan nor India uses daylight saving. Sydney moves the opposite way to London and New York, because Australia's summer is the northern winter. Northern summer here means roughly mid-March to early November for New York and late March to late October for London; Sydney changes in early October and early April. The exact dates are in the table further down. Session hours are conventions rather than official exchange times, so you'll see sources that differ by an hour; these are the common ones.
When the forex week opens and closes in India
Most brokers open the forex week at 5 p.m. New York time on Sunday and close it at 5 p.m. New York time on Friday. OANDA, for example, opens forex on Sunday at 17:05 and closes on Friday at 16:59, New York time. In India that means:
- Weekly open: Monday at about 02:30 IST from mid-March to early November, and about 03:30 IST in the northern winter.
- Weekly close: Saturday at about the same times, 02:30 or 03:30 IST.
- Daily rollover: 5 p.m. New York, which is 02:30 or 03:30 IST. Spreads often widen for a few minutes around it, overnight swap is charged on positions held through it, and many brokers pause gold for about an hour then.
The first hour of the week is usually thin, and prices can open with a gap from Friday's close after weekend news. The swap calculator shows what holding through rollover costs, including the triple swap most brokers charge on Wednesday night.
Why the times change twice a year in India
India keeps IST all year. London, New York and Sydney move their clocks for daylight saving, so a session that opens at 8 a.m. in London opens at 12:30 IST in the British summer and 13:30 IST in winter. The clock above handles this automatically. If you use a printed timetable, these are the dates to watch:
| Period | Sydney opens | London opens | New York opens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Until 4 Oct 2026 | 02:30 | 12:30 | 17:30 |
| 4 – 25 Oct 2026 | 01:30 | 12:30 | 17:30 |
| 25 Oct – 1 Nov 2026 | 01:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |
| 1 Nov 2026 – 14 Mar 2027 | 01:30 | 13:30 | 18:30 |
| 14 – 28 Mar 2027 | 01:30 | 13:30 | 17:30 |
| 28 Mar – 4 Apr 2027 | 01:30 | 12:30 | 17:30 |
Notice the two odd weeks. From 25 October to 1 November 2026, London has moved to winter time but New York hasn't, so the London–New York overlap is five hours long instead of four. The same happens from 14 to 28 March 2027, when New York moves to summer time two weeks before London. Traders who set alarms from a fixed timetable are an hour out in those weeks.
The four sessions, one by one
Sydney
The first centre to open each week. Activity is light and centred on the Australian and New Zealand dollars. For traders in India it falls in the small hours, so most simply sleep through it.
Tokyo
Opens at 05:30 IST all year. The yen, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar are most active, and Asian economic data such as Japanese and Chinese releases land here. Moves in EURUSD and GBPUSD are often smaller than later in the day.
London
The biggest centre by far. In the BIS Triennial Survey of April 2025, about 38% of all foreign exchange trading went through sales desks in the United Kingdom, more than any other country. Liquidity rises sharply at the London open, 12:30 or 13:30 IST, and many of the day's trends start in the first hours.
New York
The second-largest centre, with about 19% of turnover in the same survey. The US economic releases that move gold and the dollar, such as NFP and CPI, come out at 8:30 a.m. New York time, which is 18:00 IST in summer and 19:00 IST in winter. The economic calendar lists them with IST times.
Session overlaps: when the market is busiest
When two centres are open at once, more banks and traders are active, spreads tend to be tighter and moves larger.
| Overlap | IST, northern summer | IST, northern winter |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney and Tokyo | 05:30 – 11:30 | 05:30 – 10:30 |
| Tokyo and London | 12:30 – 14:30 | 13:30 – 14:30 |
| London and New York | 17:30 – 21:30 | 18:30 – 22:30 |
The London–New York overlap, 17:30 – 21:30 IST in summer and 18:30 – 22:30 IST in winter, is the busiest stretch of the day for EURUSD, GBPUSD and gold. For traders in India it lands in the evening, which suits anyone who works during the day.
The best time to trade forex in India
- After work: the London–New York overlap in the evening gives the most movement and the tightest spreads on the major pairs and gold.
- Before work: the Tokyo session from 05:30 IST suits yen and Australian dollar pairs, with calmer moves.
- Around news: big US releases at 18:00 or 19:00 IST and Fed decisions late at night can move prices hard in seconds. Many traders stay flat for the minutes around them. How news moves gold explains why.
- Usually worth avoiding: the hour around the daily rollover and the first hour of the week, when spreads are widest.
For gold specifically, the best time to trade gold goes into more detail, and the XAUUSD live chart shows the price in India time.
Forex on Indian exchanges (NSE)
The sessions above are for the global over-the-counter market. Exchange-traded currency derivatives in India have fixed hours. According to NSE, contracts on INR pairs (USDINR, EURINR, GBPINR and JPYINR) trade from 9:00 to 17:00 IST, and cross-currency contracts (EURUSD, GBPUSD and USDJPY) from 9:00 to 19:30 IST. Exchange hours can be revised by circular, so check NSE's market timings page if you trade these.
If you trade forex with an overseas broker or a prop firm from India, read what is a prop firm for the RBI rules and the Alert List first.
Holidays and quiet days
The forex market doesn't close for most national holidays, but liquidity drops when a major centre is shut. Christmas and New Year are the quietest days of the year, and US holidays such as Thanksgiving thin out the New York session. Brokers publish their own holiday trading hours, often with early closes for gold and indices, so check yours before holding positions over a holiday.
How to use the clock
- Each row shows whether a session is open now, how long until it opens or closes, and its hours today.
- The coloured bars show each session across today, and the thin white mark in each bar is the current time.
- The gold row is the London–New York overlap.
- If you're outside India, a switch lets you see the bars in your own time zone.
Planning a trade for the evening session? Size it first with the lot size calculator.