What is the Best Time to Trade Forex in Pakistan?

What is the best time for trading Forex in Pakistan?

The Forex market operates 24/7, only closing from Friday to Sunday evenings. This continuous access allows traders worldwide to react to news and events that sometimes impact currencies.

However, trading activity fluctuates in sessions anchored by major financial centers as their regional markets open and close: Sydney, Tokyo, London, New York.

Forex Trading Sessions

Each primary session has its own distinct trading dynamics and currency pairs based on what markets are open or closed at any given time. But the times when two major sessions overlap tend to see the biggest spikes in trading volumes and volatility.

Here are the major sessions converted into Pakistan Standard Time (PKT), which is 5 hours ahead of GMT:

Sydney Session: 

• Opens at 10:00 PM GMT and closes at 7:00 AM GMT.

• PKT: Opens at 3:00 AM and closes at 12:00 PM.

Tokyo Session: 

• Opens at 12:00 AM GMT and closes at 9:00 AM GMT.

• PKT: Opens at 5:00 AM and closes at 2:00 PM.

London Session: 

• Opens at 8:00 AM GMT and closes at 5:00 PM GMT.

• PKT: Opens at 1:00 PM and closes at 10:00 PM.

New York Session: 

• Opens at 1:00 PM GMT and closes at 10:00 PM GMT.

• PKT: Opens at 6:00 PM and closes at 3:00 AM.

It's important to note that these times can vary slightly throughout the year due to daylight saving time changes in different countries. Always check for any time changes in the specific sessions to ensure accuracy.

This schedule can be inconvenient for traders in Pakistan, as access to the most active market (which occurs when London and New York overlap) falls at a time when the working day is winding down, or already over:

• Mornings (6 AM - 9 AM PKT): This timeframe sees the active Sydney session, which runs from 3 AM to 12 PM PKT, ensuring traders are able to catch a significant portion of it. The Tokyo session opens at 5 AM PKT, overlapping with this period, offering early trading opportunities in the Asian markets before the Sydney session closes.

• Afternoons (9 AM - 4 PM PKT): This period captures the tail end of the Sydney session, the entire Tokyo session, and the beginning of the London session. Specifically, the Sydney session is active until 12 PM PKT, the Tokyo session is fully covered as it runs from 5 AM to 2 PM PKT, and the London session starts at 1 PM PKT, overlapping with the end of this timeframe.

• Evenings (4 PM - 11 PM PKT): This timeframe engages the active London session for its entirety, starting at 1 PM and closing at 10 PM PKT, and the beginning of the New York session, which opens at 6 PM PKT and continues beyond this period. This captures the highest volatility periods when the London and New York sessions overlap.

• Overnights (11 PM - 6 AM PKT): During this period, you trade the closing hours of the New York session, which ends at 3 AM PKT, and catch the opening of the Sydney session at 3 AM PKT, which continues through the end of this timeframe. This period is noted for the closing of one major session and the opening of another, offering unique trading opportunities.

So, Pakistan's geographical location allows traders to be active on the Asian and European timeframes, but makes it difficult to work during the active American trading session.

Best brokers for Forex trading in Pakistan

1

9.4/10

Go to broker

Your capital is at risk.

Minimum deposit:

$5

Bonus for deposit:

50%

Regulation:

MISA

Review

Pocket Option is an innovative Forex and binary options broker with over $500 million in trading volume. It offers active trading on financial markets, copy trading, and passive income on holding funds in dollar and cryptocurrency safes. The broker provides an in-house platform to trade binary options and MetaTrader platforms to trade CFDs on currencies, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, and commodities. Pocket Option was incorporated in 2017. The broker’s service is available in more than 95 countries and regions globally. Today, over 10 million users are registered with the broker, and 100,000 traders regularly use its services. In July 2023, it obtained a license from Mwali International Services Authority number T2023322.

Pros/Cons

•MetaTrader provides for trading binary options and CFDs;

•A demo mode is available for all account types;

•To register, you may use your Google email or Facebook/Google account;

•Active, social, and algorithmic trading is available on MT4 and MT5 accounts;

•Spreads are from 1.2 pips for Forex and no fees per lot;

•Referral program for retail clients with rewards of up to 50%-80% of the referee’s income;

•“My Safe” service that provides for crediting 10% per annum on the account balance not involved in trading;

•Cash back and promo codes for binary option traders;

•50% deposit bonus.

•The broker offers neither cent accounts for novice traders to test strategies and advisors, nor ECN accounts with near zero spreads for professional traders;

•Real-time communication with operators is available upon funding the account.

Study Review

2

9.2/10

Go to broker

Your capital is at risk.
You can lose your money.

Minimum deposit:

$10

Bonus for deposit:

0%

Regulation:

FCA, CySEC, FSA (Seychelles), FSCA, BVI FSC, FSC (Mauritius), CBCS, and CMA

Review

The Exness brand is known worldwide due to its profitable trading conditions, high-security level, and wide range of financial instruments. It focuses on trading CFDs, especially currency pairs. Cryptocurrencies, commodities, stocks, and derivative stock indices are also available. Exness offers account types for novice traders, more experienced traders, and professionals. It allows traders to use a variety of strategies including passive ones, such as copy trading and algorithmic trading. The proprietary Exness platform for social trading is used by over 20,000 investors globally. The broker’s activities are legal and its services are available in over 130 countries. Exness is supervised by 8 financial commissions, including CySEC (Cyprus, 178/12), one of the strictest European regulators, and FCA (UK, 730729), FSA (Seychelles, SD025), FSC (BVI) SIBA/L/20/1133, CBCS (Curacao, 0003LSI), FSCA (South Africa, 51024), and CMA (Kenya, 162). The broker offers demo and cent accounts for novice traders, as well as standard and ECN account types for experienced traders.

Pros/Cons

•Availability of 8 licenses and a membership in the Financial Commission with its own compensation fund to insure traders against losses;

•Wide choice of account types — Standard, Pro, Cent, Swap Free, and Demo;

•Wide range of CFDs, including over 100 currency pairs;

•Zero deposit and withdrawal fees;

•Proprietary platforms for active and social trading, as well as all versions of classic MT4 and MT5.

•The broker’s website offers almost no educational materials;

•24/7 support isn’t available in all languages.

Study Review

3

9.1/10

Go to broker

Your capital is at risk.
76.5% of retail accounts lose money when trading ᏟᖴᎠs with this provider.

Minimum deposit:

€10

Bonus for deposit:

100%

Regulation:

CySEC

Review

FBS (fbs.com) is an international broker operating in 190 countries. The brokerage company has been on the market for over 10 years, and during this time it has earned about 40 international awards. It is regulated by the CySEC under license number 331/17 and provides flexible conditions for Forex trading. In addition to classic currency pairs, the company's clients can trade indices, futures contracts, exotic currencies, and metals. FBS is especially popular in Asian countries such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Pros/Cons

•negative balance protection;

•a large selection of trading instruments;

•the support service works 24/7.

•no cryptocurrency;

•auto copying is not available;

•no PAMM accounts;

•not suitable for short-term trading, such as scalping;

•the support service works in a limited number of languages;

•only two real accounts.

Study Review

Your location is United States

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What time is the Forex market open in Pakistan?

Pakistan's currency trading is heavily influenced by its position within overlapping global sessions. Key characteristics include:

• Asian Session (12 AM - 8 AM PKT): While trading might be relatively muted compared to the European and US sessions, significant economic news from Asia can indeed spur volatility, especially in JPY and AUD pairs. Gaps may form between Friday's close and Sunday's open due to market closure over the weekend.

• European Session (1 PM - 10 PM PKT): The European session is crucial for trading major pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD due to the significant financial flows that occur during these hours. London's immense liquidity and overlap with New York create peak trading interest.

• US Session (6 PM - 3 AM PKT): The U.S. session is pivotal due to the release of critical U.S. economic data and events that can significantly impact market sentiment and trading volumes. However, due to the time difference, traders in Pakistan may face inconvenience in trying to trade before the close of the trading session in New York.

Liquidity and volatility frequently surge when key markets open and close in close succession. Significant overlaps for Pakistan include:

• London Open & Tokyo Close (1 PM - 2 PM PKT): This is the period when the London market opens, and the Tokyo market is about to close, increasing liquidity and volatility, especially for pairs involving the GBP, EUR, and JPY.

• London Close & New York Open (6 PM - 10 PM PKT): This significant overlap sees the highest liquidity and volatility in the Forex market, especially for pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD, as both London and New York markets are open.

These hot zones with amplified volatility present prime trading conditions. Planning trading targets before overlaps allows capitalizing on short-term swings.

While technical analysis drives trading, major global news events can override typical activity. Staying updated on critical developments regarding central banks, geopolitics, economic trends, and Pakistan/India relations allows for adapting to news-driven volatility. Significant external events often spur heavy market reactions, requiring nimble adjustments.

How to start Forex trading in Pakistan?

For new traders looking to venture into Forex in Pakistan, here are some key steps to get started:

• Self-educate by reading guides and taking online courses on market fundamentals, technical analysis and basic trading strategies to build knowledge.

• Open a free demo account with a regulated broker to test out strategies risk-free using virtual funds to build experience.

• Research brokers and select one regulated locally by SECP and globally to ensure the safety of trading capital. To find the best brokerage firm based on your requirements, you can refer to this article: What is the Best Forex Broker in Pakistan?

• Start live trading small using a micro account size and gradually increase the position size as skills improve through disciplined learning.

• Use prudent risk management with stop losses and avoid over-leveraging account capital beyond a 1% risk per trade.

Initially, focus on trading 2-3 currency pairs like USD/PKR, EUR/USD, and USD/JPY rather than attempting to master the entire market.