Best Time to Trade Forex in Nigeria, Kenya & UAE

The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week — but it is not equally active all day. Trading at the right hours gives you tighter spreads and cleaner moves. Here are the sessions converted to your local time.

The four main sessions (UTC)

| Session | UTC time (approx.) |
|---|---|
| Sydney | 22:00 – 07:00 |
| Tokyo (Asian) | 00:00 – 09:00 |
| London | 08:00 – 17:00 |
| New York | 13:00 – 22:00 |

Times shift by one hour when Europe and the US change to daylight-saving time (roughly March–October/November). Nigeria, Kenya and the UAE do not change their clocks.

Nigeria & West Africa (WAT, UTC+1)

| Session | Local time |
|---|---|
| Tokyo | 1:00 AM – 10:00 AM |
| London | 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| New York | 2:00 PM – 11:00 PM |
| London–New York overlap | 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM |

Also applies to Ghana-adjacent WAT countries such as Cameroon. (Ghana uses UTC+0 — subtract one hour.)

Kenya & East Africa (EAT, UTC+3)

| Session | Local time |
|---|---|
| Tokyo | 3:00 AM – 12:00 PM |
| London | 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| New York | 4:00 PM – 1:00 AM |
| London–New York overlap | 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM |

Same times for Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.

UAE & Gulf (GST, UTC+4)

| Session | Local time |
|---|---|
| Tokyo | 4:00 AM – 1:00 PM |
| London | 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM |
| New York | 5:00 PM – 2:00 AM |
| London–New York overlap | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM |

Saudi Arabia (UTC+3) uses the Kenya times above.

Why the overlap matters

When London and New York are both open, the most banks and traders are active. That means:

• Tighter spreads on EURUSD, GBPUSD and gold (XAUUSD)
• Bigger, cleaner moves
• Most US news (NFP, CPI, interest-rate decisions) is released at the start of the New York session

Best times by instrument

• XAUUSD (gold): London open and the overlap
• EURUSD / GBPUSD: London session and overlap
• USDJPY: Tokyo session and New York open
• BTCUSD: trades 24/7, but volume is highest during US hours

Hours to be careful

• The Asian session is quiet for EUR and GBP pairs — fake breakouts are common.
• Friday late evening liquidity drops before the weekend.
• Major news releases — check the Danipips Economic Calendar before every trading day.

Build a routine

Pick one session that fits your work and sleep schedule and trade only then. A consistent 2–3 hour window beats watching charts all day. See live prices on the Markets page.

Ready to practise? Open a free demo account with Exness and trade the overlap hours with no risk.

Forex trading involves risk. Session times are approximate.