All instruments · By hour

Forex Volatility by Hour of Day

14 of the 15 instruments measured peak in the same hour — 14:00–15:00 UTC, the London and New York overlap. The table below shows the shape of the day for five instruments side by side, from 28,075,555 one-minute candles.

14:00peak hour for 14/15

30.8GBP/USD at peak (pips)

10GBP/USD at trough

3.1×loudest vs quietest hour

A caution about comparing these directly. Pips and index points are different units. Gold's 361.6 is measured in 0.1 increments and the Dow's 446.4 in index points; neither is comparable to EUR/GBP's 40 pips as a raw number. Ranking is meaningful within a unit family — the nine FX majors and crosses against each other — and misleading across them. Every figure below states its unit for that reason.

Five instruments, hour by hour

Each column is that instrument's own unit. Read down a column to see the shape of its day; do not read across a row expecting the numbers to be comparable.

Hour (UTC)	Session	GBPUSD	EURUSD	USDJPY	GBPJPY	XAUUSD
00:00–01:00 UTC	Asian	14.5	11.7	28.8	33.7	68.3
01:00–02:00 UTC	Asian	14.8	11.7	25.2	30.4	95.3
02:00–03:00 UTC	Asian	12.2	9.7	20.2	24.7	70.8
03:00–04:00 UTC	Asian	10.5	8.2	18.1	22.5	55.8
04:00–05:00 UTC	Asian	10	7.6	17.3	21.7	45.4
05:00–06:00 UTC	Asian	12.3	9.4	18.5	23.8	69
06:00–07:00 UTC	Asian	19.2	13.9	23.4	32.7	74
07:00–08:00 UTC	London	24.9	19.3	27.2	40.8	76.1
08:00–09:00 UTC	London	24.8	19	25.7	40.3	76.3
09:00–10:00 UTC	London	22.5	16.7	21.6	35.2	68.3
10:00–11:00 UTC	London	21.1	15	18.9	31.5	65.6
11:00–12:00 UTC	London	22	15.8	19.9	32.7	71.8
12:00–13:00 UTC	London/New York overlap	28.2	22.1	31.4	38.5	103.3
13:00–14:00 UTC	London/New York overlap	30.4	24.2	33.6	40.8	130.2
14:00–15:00 UTC	London/New York overlap	30.8	24.5	33.2	44.5	130.9
15:00–16:00 UTC	London/New York overlap	27.6	21.6	28	38.4	109.7
16:00–17:00 UTC	New York	20.7	16.1	20.2	29.2	84
17:00–18:00 UTC	New York	17.3	13.6	17.9	25.2	71.1
18:00–19:00 UTC	New York	17.2	13.7	17.6	23	69.3
19:00–20:00 UTC	New York	14.4	11.4	15.1	20.6	63.2
20:00–21:00 UTC	New York	11.2	8.8	13.2	18.6	54
21:00–22:00 UTC	Late New York / Asian open	10.4	6.9	11.9	21.2	50.5
22:00–23:00 UTC	Late New York / Asian open	10.4	7.5	15.4	23	62.4
23:00–00:00 UTC	Late New York / Asian open	10	7.9	18.9	24	62.7

The shape is the same everywhere

Different instruments, different units, one pattern: a quiet Asian stretch, a step up at the London open, a dip through London lunch, a peak in the overlap with New York, then decay into the close. That consistency is what makes the hour worth knowing — it is a property of when money is being moved, not of any one pair.

Where instruments differ is in how extreme the shape is. GBP/USD swings 3.1× between its loudest and quietest hour; EUR/USD 3.6×; gold 2.9×.

Why this matters for a backtest

A strategy tested across all hours is tested mostly in hours it will never trade. If entries only fire between 13:00 and 16:00 UTC, the sample that matters is the three hours, not the twenty-four — and a result averaged over the full day has been diluted by fifteen hours of conditions the rules never see.

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Questions

What time is forex most volatile?

14:00–15:00 UTC — the London and New York overlap. 14 of the 15 instruments measured here peak in that hour.

Is the Asian session really quieter?

Measurably. GBP/USD averages around 10–12 pips an hour through 02:00–05:00 UTC against 30.8 pips at the overlap peak.

Do all currency pairs peak at the same time?

Nearly. 14 of 15 share the same peak hour. USD/JPY peaks an hour earlier, at 13:00–14:00 UTC.

Are these hours adjusted for daylight saving?

No — they are fixed UTC. The candle timestamps are UTC and do not shift, so London and New York move relative to this table twice a year.

All 15 compared Most volatile pairs Weekend gaps Session data GBP/USD daily range Best hours for GBP/USD

Beginner exploration

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What does “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” mean for a beginner?

This page focuses on “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day”.14 of 15 instruments peak in the same hour: 14:00–15:00 UTC. Hour-by-hour volatility for GBP/USD, EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/JPY and gold, from one-minute data.For “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day”, a beginner should identify what the evidence guide measures, assumes or teaches before acting on its conclusion.Treat this page's account of “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” as a learning reference rather than a prediction, signal or promise of future performance.

How should a beginner use this page to explore “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day”?

For “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day”, confirm the population, sample size, clock, units and calculation behind the headline number.While exploring “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day”, compare the median, spread of outcomes and exceptions instead of reading only the average or best row.Keep your “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” record honest: use the statistic to frame a test or risk assumption, not to predict the next candle.Before leaving “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day”, recheck the result on a separate period before turning a descriptive pattern into a rule.

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Turn one idea from “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” into a rule with explicit inputs, dates, costs and pass-or-fail conditions.Ask AI to expose missing assumptions in that “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” test, not to guess the next market move.Use the FXAbsolute AI Backtesting Lab to inspect calculations connected to “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” and the assumptions behind them.Reproduce any important “Forex Volatility by Hour of Day” result and reserve unseen data before deciding that an apparent pattern is useful.

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