--- title: "London Session: Times and How It Trades - Get Funded Now" description: "The London session runs 08:00 to 17:00 London time by convention. Its hours in other time zones, the open and the overlap, and what changes on the clock." url: "https://getfundednow.com/learn/london-session" language: "en" last_modified: "2026-09-22" publisher: "Get Funded Now (getfundednow.com)" translations: es: "https://getfundednow.com/es/learn/london-session" pt-BR: "https://getfundednow.com/pt-br/learn/london-session" fr: "https://getfundednow.com/fr/learn/london-session" it: "https://getfundednow.com/it/learn/london-session" de: "https://getfundednow.com/de/learn/london-session" disclosure: "All trading at Get Funded Now is simulated. 'Funded' means a simulated or virtual account; GFN is not a broker and does not hold client funds." --- Sessions and events # The London session: the centre of the forex day. The London session is the European trading window, conventionally 08:00 to 17:00 London time. It is the largest forex centre by turnover, and its first hours and its overlap with New York are usually the most active of the day for the euro, sterling and dollar pairs. The hours are a convention, not an official schedule. [All trading lessons](https://getfundednow.com/learn) · [Read the trading rules →](https://getfundednow.com/rules) ## When the London session is, in other time zones Quoted in London time the session never moves: 08:00 to 17:00 all year. What moves is its time elsewhere, because the UK changes its clocks and not every country does, or does so on different dates. **The London session converted** | Clock | UK winter (GMT) | UK summer (BST) | | --- | --- | --- | | London | 08:00-17:00 | 08:00-17:00 | | New York (Eastern) | 03:00-12:00, or 04:00-13:00 in the out-of-step weeks | 03:00-12:00 | | US Pacific | 00:00-09:00, or 01:00-10:00 in the out-of-step weeks | 00:00-09:00 | | India (IST) | 13:30-22:30 | 12:30-21:30 | | Tokyo | 17:00-02:00 | 16:00-01:00 | Conventions, not official hours: sources differ by up to an hour at either end. Your GFN account runs on the instrument schedule, not on these. Some sources end the London session at 16:00 or 16:30. ## Why London carries the most volume London's business day overlaps the end of Asia and the start of New York, so it is the one centre that trades with both. The Bank of England reported that the UK accounted for 37.8% of global FX turnover in April 2025, the largest share of any country. That depth is why the euro and sterling pairs typically do much of their daily range in London hours, and why overnight Asian ranges are often broken early in the London morning. Neither is a rule; both are tendencies that vary day to day. ## The open, the middle and the overlap Traders usually talk about London in three parts. The open, roughly the first two hours, is when European participants arrive and overnight positions are adjusted. The middle of the day is often quieter. From 13:00 UK time New York joins, and the [overlap](https://getfundednow.com/glossary/session-overlap) carries the US data calendar. SMC traders call parts of these windows killzones - the London open in particular - and the [power of three](https://getfundednow.com/learn/power-of-three) model describes a common reading of how a session's range develops. Those are interpretive frameworks, not properties of the session. Step by step ## How to identify it Work out the London session for your clock from London time, not from a table you saved months ago. 1. Start from 08:00-17:00 London time. 2. Check whether the UK is on GMT or BST today: BST runs from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. 3. Convert to your own clock. In IST, add 5:30 in winter and 4:30 in summer; in New York time, subtract 5 hours, or 4 in the out-of-step weeks. 4. Mark 13:00 London time as the start of the usual New York overlap. 5. Check the instrument schedule on your account for the actual hours of what you trade. Worked example ## The concept, walked through ### A trader in Mumbai places the London session, described An illustrative conversion in words. It is not a record of any real day's trading. 1. 1. Winter date In January the UK is on GMT, so London's 08:00-17:00 is 13:30-22:30 IST. 2. 2. Summer date In July the UK is on BST, one hour ahead, so the same session is 12:30-21:30 IST. 3. 3. Overlap New York joins at 13:00 London time: 18:30 IST in January, 17:30 IST in July. The trader's IST routine has to move twice a year even though London's own hours never change. The session name tells them who is trading, not how price will move. Common mistakes ## Where traders go wrong ### Keeping one local-time table all year The London session in IST or US time moves by an hour twice a year, and the US and UK change on different dates. ### Reading the London open as a signal Early London often breaks the Asian range, but it also often reverses. A tendency is not an instruction. ### Ignoring the data calendar in the overlap US releases land after 13:00 London time. A position opened in quiet London hours carries into them. Limitations ## What it cannot tell you No chart concept predicts price. These are the limits worth keeping in view. - The session's hours are a convention with no official definition; activity does not start at 08:00 exactly. - The tendencies described here are averages across many days and do not hold on any particular day. - Volume statistics are national turnover figures, not a measure of how any single instrument will trade. In an evaluation ## Using it on a simulated account A London-session strategy on a $100,000 simulated account meets the same daily loss limit as any other: $3,000 on Instant or $5,000 on 1 Step and 2 Step. The early London break of the Asian range is often a fast move, and fills there can differ from the price you saw, so size from your stop, risking something like $500 a trade, and allow for slippage. The daily loss limit resets at the time shown in your dashboard, which is not necessarily the London open. Know which day a morning trade counts toward. - [When can I trade?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/trading-hours) - Trading rule - The instrument schedule your account actually runs on. - [Does slippage excuse a breach?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/slippage-and-spreads) - Trading rule - Fast opening moves are where fills slip most. - [What is the daily loss limit?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/daily-loss-limit) - Trading rule - The daily ceiling - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step - and when it resets. Questions ## Asked about this concept Usually 03:00 to 12:00 Eastern. In the few weeks each year when the US and UK clocks are out of step, it is 04:00 to 13:00 Eastern. By turnover, London is the largest forex centre, with 37.8% of global FX turnover in April 2025 according to the Bank of England. The overlap with New York is usually the most active stretch of the day. Keep learning ## Related lessons - [Trading Sessions: Asia, London and New York](https://getfundednow.com/learn/trading-sessions) - Sessions and market events - How the 24-hour forex day divides into the Asian, London and New York sessions, when they overlap, and why the hours move twice a year. - [Asian Session: What Time It Opens](https://getfundednow.com/learn/asian-session) - Sessions and market events - When the Tokyo-centred Asian session runs in UK, US and India time, and why its range matters to traders who never trade it. - [New York Session: Times and What Moves It](https://getfundednow.com/learn/new-york-session) - Sessions and market events - The US trading window: its conventional hours, its overlap with London, and the scheduled releases that make its first hours the most volatile. - [Smart money concepts (SMC and ICT)](https://getfundednow.com/learn/liquidity-in-trading) - Liquidity in Trading: Pools and Sweeps - Buy-side and sell-side liquidity, equal highs and lows, and what traders mean when they say price swept a level. - [Opening Range Breakout (ORB) Strategy](https://getfundednow.com/learn/opening-range-breakout) - Sessions and market events - ORB - marking the high and low of a session's first minutes and trading a break of either side, with the choices and risks that come with it. Sources ## What this page relied on 1. [BIS Triennial Survey of foreign exchange and OTC interest rate derivatives markets in April 2025 - UK data](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2025/september/bis-triennial-survey-of-foreign-exchange-and-over-the-counter-interest-rate-derivatives-markets) - Bank of England. Retrieved 22 September 2026. The UK's 37.8% share of global FX turnover in April 2025, the largest of any centre. 2. [When do the clocks change?](https://www.gov.uk/when-do-the-clocks-change) - GOV.UK. Retrieved 23 September 2026. UK clocks: GMT in winter, BST (GMT+1) from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October. 3. [Daylight saving time](https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/popular-links/daylight-saving-time-dst) - National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 23 September 2026. US daylight time runs from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. Educational content only, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Chart concepts describe what price has done; none of them predicts what it will do, and trading any strategy can lose money. Get Funded Now accounts are simulated and trade virtual funds. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. Ready when you are ## Your capital stays yours. The risk is ours. One evaluation fee, no time limits and up to 90% of simulated profits. Pick an account size and your credentials arrive by email within minutes. [Start your challenge →](https://getfundednow.com/challenges) · [Read the rules](https://getfundednow.com/faq) No subscriptions or hidden fees Payouts every 14 days $400,000 max total allocation --- Source: https://getfundednow.com/learn/london-session Facts about Get Funded Now in one file: https://getfundednow.com/llms.txt