Forex sessions guide
Tokyo / London / NY session structure, overlap windows, characteristic price behaviour per session, and how to filter and align signals to your time zone. Cross-link to the Forex Sessions indicator overlay.
Forex trades 24 hours a day Monday through Friday, but the market is NOT uniformly liquid throughout. Three regional sessions (Tokyo, London, New York) overlap and hand off the baton, and signal performance varies dramatically by session. Understanding the session structure is fundamental to forex trading and to making sense of which mrD signals are worth taking when.
The three sessions (UTC)
| Session | UTC hours | Local equivalents | Characterised by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | 22:00 - 06:00 | Tokyo 07:00 - 15:00 / Singapore 06:00 - 14:00 | Asian-pair activity (USDJPY, AUDJPY, NZDJPY, AUDUSD). Lower overall volatility. Range-bound behaviour common. |
| London | 06:00 - 13:00 | London 06:00 - 13:00 / Frankfurt 07:00 - 14:00 | European-pair activity (EURUSD, GBPUSD, EURGBP). Highest single-session volume. Trends often form here. |
| NY | 13:00 - 22:00 | New York 08:00 - 17:00 / Chicago 07:00 - 16:00 | USD-driven moves. Major US data releases at 13:30 UTC. Trends continue or reverse based on US session response. |
The overlap (the magic window)
The most active period is the London-NY overlap: 13:00 - 17:00 UTC. Both London and NY are open simultaneously, liquidity peaks, and the majority of the day's range typically prints here. About 70% of all mrD-Forex Trend signals fire in this window.
If you can only trade one window per day, this is it.
Signal frequency by session
Approximate signal counts per session per day across all sources:
| Session | Typical signal count |
|---|---|
| Tokyo | 5-15 |
| London | 30-50 |
| London-NY overlap | 40-80 |
| NY (post-overlap) | 15-25 |
| Off-hours (21-22 UTC, transition) | 0-3 |
This is why the Live feed feels much busier between 06:00 and 17:00 UTC.
Performance by session
Win rates and average pips typically order:
- London-NY overlap — highest win rate AND highest avg pips. The "best of both worlds".
- London — high win rate, medium pips.
- NY (post-overlap) — medium win rate, medium pips.
- Tokyo — lower win rate on USD pairs (low USD activity), but solid on JPY / AUD crosses.
See the Metrics dashboard → Session breakdown for live numbers.
Pair-session affinity
Different pairs trade best in different sessions:
| Pair | Best session(s) |
|---|---|
| EURUSD | London + overlap |
| GBPUSD | London + overlap |
| USDJPY | Tokyo + overlap |
| AUDUSD | Tokyo + overlap (Sydney leg) |
| NZDUSD | Tokyo + overlap |
| EURJPY / GBPJPY | London (most volatile then) |
| XAUUSD | NY (US$ inverse driver) |
| USDTRY / USDZAR | NY (US economic data) |
Don't trade EURUSD signals during Tokyo session — the moves are noise. The mrD-Forex sources internally weight this, but you should still mentally cross-check.
Session filter in the live feed
The Live feed has a Session filter dropdown:
- All sessions (default).
- Tokyo only.
- London only.
- Overlap only (13:00 - 17:00 UTC).
- NY only (17:00 - 22:00 UTC).
- Off-hours (transitions; rare).
Combine with Source filter to focus on "mrD-Forex Trend signals during the London-NY overlap" — a typical edge-rich combination.
Sessions overlay on the chart
The Forex Sessions chart indicator (one of the Chart Indicators) draws coloured bands on the chart background:
- Tokyo: light blue.
- London: light green.
- NY: light orange.
- Overlap: deeper amber (London + NY colours blended).
Enable from the Indicator panel → search "Forex Sessions". The bands appear behind candles so you can immediately see which session each price move belongs to.
Weekend gap risk
Forex closes Friday ~22:00 UTC and reopens Sunday ~22:00 UTC. During the closed period:
- News breaks (geopolitical events, central bank surprises).
- Crypto and indices continue trading.
- When forex reopens Sunday, prices may GAP up or down from Friday's close.
Implications:
- Any Forex signal you hold over the weekend is exposed to gap risk.
- Many traders close all forex positions before Friday's NY close.
- If you hold over weekend, widen your SL or accept that an adverse gap can blow through it.
The history tracks weekend-spanning signals separately — filter by "duration > 48h spanning Sat/Sun" to see how often weekend holds were rewarding.
Daily routine recommendation
For a typical engaged-but-not-day-job forex trader:
- Check Economic Calendar at the start of your day for tier-1 releases.
- Open the Live feed filtered to the current session.
- Engage during your active session; skip signals during sessions you can't monitor.
- Set alerts for after-hours so you don't miss anything important.
What's next
- Live feed — session-filtered view.
- Metrics — session-by-session performance.
- Economic Calendar — news-risk overlay.
- Forex Sessions indicator — chart session bands.