The London session, hour by hour
More currency trading is done in the UK than in any other centre, about 38% of the world total in April 2025 by the BIS count, so the London opening is the moment the day gets its direction. The session runs from 08:00 to about 16:30 London time, European news lands in its morning, and the handover from Asia gives it a running start.
By Mike, founder of MacroSetup. Page updated . Our own measurement of every setup starts at this open.
Open right now
Reading your clock.
- Sydney...
- Tokyo...
- London...
- New York...
Hours are shown in your own time zone and follow each centre's own clock change, so they shift by an hour at different times of the year. Trading itself runs through the night; a closed centre means its own desks have gone home, not that the market has stopped.
Why the open matters
For eight hours before it, the market has been traded in Asia on a fraction of the volume. At eight in the morning the desks that move size arrive, look at what Asia did and decide whether they agree. That is why the first hour so often reverses the overnight drift, and why a level that held at four in the morning means very little.
It also concentrates the day's news. The UK reports at seven, Germany and France before the open, the euro area aggregates mid-morning. By the time New York wakes up, the European story of the day has already been priced.
Which is why we measure from this open. Every setup we publish is judged from one London opening to the next, and when we tested other windows over three years, the ones anchored here behaved consistently while earlier starts did not.
Pairs with a reason to move
- EUR/USD and GBP/USD. The deepest books in the market, and both have their own news in these hours.
- EUR/GBP. Two European stories against each other with no dollar in the way, which makes it the cleanest reading of the session.
- The euro and sterling crosses. EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY and EUR/CHF pick up the European lead while Asia is still open.
- Not USD/CAD. It waits for New York, and trading it in the London morning is trading half a pair.
What lands, and when
Times are London time and they move with the clocks. What matters is not that a figure exists, but whether the central bank behind that currency has said it is watching it.
| When | What | Why it moves the session |
|---|---|---|
| 07:00 to 08:00 London | German and French figures | Europe's largest economies report before the market opens, so the euro often arrives at the open already moving. |
| 07:00 London | UK data | Inflation, the labour market and growth come out an hour before the open, which makes the first hour of sterling the sharpest of its day. |
| 09:00 to 10:00 London | Euro area aggregates and surveys | The figures the European Central Bank says it watches, which is what decides whether a surprise matters. |
| 13:15 London | European Central Bank decisions | The decision, then the press conference at 13:45, so the euro is repriced twice in half an hour. |
This week's actual releases, with the currency each one belongs to, are on the calendar. The New York half of the day is on the New York session page.
Sources
London's place in currency trading: BIS Triennial Survey 2025.
Release times, from the publishers: Office for National Statistics, Release calendar; Eurostat, Release calendar for euro indicators; European Central Bank, New times for monetary policy decisions and press conference. Clock changes: GOV.UK, When do the clocks change?; European Commission, Summertime.
Corrected on 24 October 2026: the table gave the time of the ECB decision as 12:15 or 13:00 London. It is 13:15 London all year, with the press conference at 13:45.
Corrected on 24 October 2026: the opening said most currency trading is done in London. The BIS puts the UK first among all centres with about 38% of the total: the largest share, not most of it.
Questions about the London session
What time is the London session in forex?
London desks work from 08:00 to about 16:30 London time, which is 08:00 to 16:30 UTC in winter and 07:00 to 15:30 UTC in summer, because London keeps British Summer Time from late March to late October. The live clock on our market hours page shows it in your own time zone, including the weeks when Europe and America are out of step. Live session clock
Why is the London session the most important?
It is the deepest. More currency trading is done from the UK than from any other centre, about 38% of the world total in April 2025 (BIS Triennial Survey), European releases land in its morning, and the Asian session hands over into it. More volume means tighter spreads and moves that carry rather than fade.
Which pairs are best in the London session?
The ones with a European leg: EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/GBP and the euro and sterling crosses. They have their own news and their own depth in those hours, which is not true of them at any other time of day.
Why does MacroSetup measure from the London open?
Because that is when the money that sets these prices arrives. We measure every published setup from one London opening to the next, and when we compared measurement windows over 2024 to 2026, the one starting at the London open behaved consistently across all three years while an earlier start did not. How we measure