Is It Better To Trade In The Morning Or At Night?

When you trade can make a big difference. Whether you trade early or late, choosing the right time and assets is crucial to making your strategy work better. Our expert breaks down why timing and asset choices matter, showing how traders can use them to reach their goals.

Is it a good idea to trade at night?

Most traders avoid night trading because they think it’s too slow, but that’s exactly why it can be a goldmine. During lower liquidity hours, price movements become more predictable because there’s less noise from high-frequency traders and institutional bots. If you focus on pairs that still have some activity — like JPY or AUD crosses during the Asian session — you can take advantage of controlled, methodical price action instead of the chaotic swings seen in peak hours. The trick is to adjust your strategy for these conditions, using wider stop losses and targeting levels that align with larger timeframes rather than chasing quick scalps.

Another overlooked factor is how night trading reveals true institutional intentions. Big players leave behind subtle footprints — like resting orders at key levels — that become more visible in lower-volume markets. If you track these hidden cues using order flow analysis or heatmaps, you can anticipate market moves before they happen. Many stop hunts and liquidity grabs occur just before liquidity returns in the morning, so entering at night with the right setup lets you ride those moves instead of being trapped by them.

Night trading also allows you to take advantage of what I call "sleep cycle trades." If you plan properly, you can set up high-probability trades that execute while you sleep. This isn't about placing random orders and hoping for the best — it’s about identifying strong technical levels, setting alerts, and using automation to manage risk. The market doesn’t sleep, but you should, so the key is to align your entries and exits with structured setups that work even when you’re not watching. Most traders ignore this, but done right, night trading can actually improve your discipline and prevent overtrading.

Is it a good idea to trade in the morning?

The morning trading session isn’t just about volatility — it’s about deception. The first 30 minutes are often a battleground where institutions set traps for retail traders. If you’re jumping in right away, thinking you’re catching momentum, you’re likely falling into a liquidity grab. Instead of chasing the first breakout, observe how price reacts to key levels from the previous day. Institutions push prices toward overnight liquidity pools, triggering stop losses and misleading traders into entering at the worst possible time.

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is assuming the morning trend will continue throughout the day. In reality, market makers love to create false trends early, only to reverse them once enough traders have taken the bait. The best way to counter this is by waiting for a "liquidity sweep" — a move where price spikes in one direction to grab orders before reversing into the actual trend. If you enter too soon, you’re playing right into their hands. Wait for the market to reveal its real direction before committing.

Instead of rushing in at the open, track how the first hour plays out. Use a time-based approach rather than a price-based one — see if the opening range holds or breaks before deciding. If a stock is making big moves but volume doesn’t confirm the breakout, it’s likely a trap. Let the algorithms and big players battle it out while you wait for a high-probability entry. The real opportunity often comes after the initial chaos dies down.

What is the best Forex pair at night?

Trading at night has a different rhythm — liquidity shifts, spreads widen, and certain pairs become hidden gems if you know where to look.

• Avoid pairs that rely on missing volume. Many traders assume low volume means better trends, but that’s not always true. Pairs like GBP/USD or EUR/USD slow down at night, and this lack of volume often leads to choppy, unpredictable moves. Instead, look for pairs where liquidity remains steady, like AUD/JPY or NZD/JPY, which stay active due to the Asian session.

• Target JPY crosses for hidden volatility bursts. When New York traders log off, JPY pairs don’t just "calm down" — they often experience delayed volatility spikes triggered by institutional orders placed earlier in the day. Pairs like GBP/JPY and EUR/JPY can see quick liquidity grabs before settling into their overnight ranges. If you know when these bursts tend to happen, you can trade short but high-impact moves instead of waiting for slow trends.

• Watch for artificial price squeezes before Tokyo opens. About 30–45 minutes before Tokyo opens, some Forex pairs — especially AUD/USD and NZD/USD — experience "ghost moves" where price squeezes in one direction with no real momentum. These are often algorithm-driven liquidity traps meant to grab stop losses before the real Tokyo session trend kicks in. If you trade these pairs, wait for the first 15 minutes of Tokyo’s open before entering, so you avoid getting caught in a fakeout.

Best time to trade stocks, crypto and Forex

Here are the best times to trade stocks, crypto and Forex:

Best time to trade Forex

The most favorable time for Forex trading is during the overlap of the London and New York trading sessions. This period, usually around 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST, offers high liquidity and volatility, as these two major financial hubs are active simultaneously.

Traders can benefit from increased trading volume and potentially significant price movements, making it an opportune time for executing Forex strategies.

Wednesday and Thursday stand out as  optimal trading days in the Forex market due to increased activity. Additionally, Friday boasts good liquidity, making it a favorable day for trading

Best time to trade stocks

The optimal time to trade stocks is typically during the first hour after the market opens. This is when trading activity and volatility tend to be at their highest, creating opportunities for quick price movements. Traders can capitalize on news releases, earnings reports, and market sentiment shifts that often occur during this period.

For example, the US stock market usually operates from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), Monday through Friday. This period encompasses regular trading hours when most of the market activity, volatility, and trading opportunities are concentrated.

The UK stock market sessions usually run from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), Monday through Friday.

Best time to trade crypto

Cryptocurrency trading is unique in that it operates around the clock, seven days a week. With markets spread across different time zones worldwide, traders can find active periods at various times.

Since the active integration of  Bitcoin trading into the global financial system weekends have generally proven suboptimal for crypto trading due to minimal  liquidity and volatility. Typically, trading gains momentum on Monday mornings as markets awaken.

Notably, during New York stock trading sessions, particularly when crypto whales are active, the day sees heightened activity for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.

Now depending on what you choose to trade, you may select the best crypto exchange for yourself from the options present below:

Morning trading is full of traps while night trading tests your patience

Anastasiia Chabaniuk Author, Financial Expert at Traders Union

Trading in the morning and at night isn’t just about volatility — it’s about who’s in control. The morning is when big players manipulate price the most, using high volume and fake breakouts to lure traders into bad positions. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up buying tops and selling bottoms, thinking you're catching momentum when you're really just liquidity for the big players. At night, there are fewer fakeouts, but spreads widen, and price moves can be slow. The key is knowing who’s active — institutions and high-frequency traders dominate the morning, while overnight moves are more influenced by central bank flows and trading algorithms.

If you’re trading in the morning, wait for the "second wave" — the first push is usually a trap, designed to sweep stop losses before the real trend begins. If you trade at night, focus on pairs that react to global macro events, like JPY and AUD crosses, which move when Asian markets digest news from earlier sessions. Trading at night means you need to be patient — since there’s less volume, you have to time entries carefully instead of chasing every small move. Morning or night, the game isn’t just about when you trade — it’s about knowing who’s on the other side of your trade.

Conclusion

There’s no universal “best” time to trade — only the best time for your strategy and psychology. The morning offers explosive moves, but it’s also when market makers play their biggest tricks, forcing impatient traders into bad positions. Night trading, on the other hand, can be slow, but if you understand liquidity traps and pre-session price manipulation, it’s a goldmine for sniper-like entries. Instead of blindly choosing a time, track when your best trades happen, study how liquidity behaves, and trade when the market plays into your strengths — not the other way around.

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Team that worked on the article

Alamin Morshed

Contributor

Alamin Morshed is a contributor at Traders Union. He specializes in writing articles for businesses that want to improve their Google search rankings to compete with their competition. With expertise in search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing, he ensures his work is both informative and impactful.

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Chinmay Soni

Developmental English Editor

Chinmay Soni is a financial analyst with more than 5 years of experience in working with stocks, Forex, derivatives, and other assets. As a founder of a boutique research firm and an active researcher, he covers various industries and fields, providing insights backed by statistical data. He is also an educator in the field of finance and technology.

As an author for Traders Union, he contributes his deep analytical insights on various topics, taking into account various aspects.

Mirjan Hipolito

Cryptocurrency and stock expert

Mirjan Hipolito is a journalist and news editor at Traders Union. She is an expert crypto writer with five years of experience in the financial markets. Her specialties are daily market news, price predictions, and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO).

Glossary for novice traders

Overtrading

Overtrading is a phenomenon where a trader executes too many transactions in the market, surpassing their strategy and trading more frequently than planned. It's a common mistake that can lead to financial losses.

Investor

An investor is an individual, who invests money in an asset with the expectation that its value would appreciate in the future. The asset can be anything, including a bond, debenture, mutual fund, equity, gold, silver, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and real-estate property.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital or virtual currency that relies on cryptography for security. Unlike traditional currencies issued by governments (fiat currencies), cryptocurrencies operate on decentralized networks, typically based on blockchain technology.

Forex trading scam

A Forex trading scam refers to any fraudulent or deceptive activity in the foreign exchange (Forex) market, where individuals or entities engage in unethical practices to defraud traders or investors.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital cryptocurrency that was created in 2009 by an anonymous individual or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It operates on a technology called blockchain, which is a distributed ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers.