Published on: 2025-08-04
Updated on: 2026-07-01
The forex market opens for traders in Pakistan early on Monday morning, at about 3:00 AM PKT from November to March and about 2:00 AM PKT from March to November. It closes about 24 hours after New York shuts on Friday, which is around 2:00 to 3:00 AM on Saturday in Pakistan.
Between those two points, the market runs continuously, moving through four regional sessions as the trading day travels around the world.
Pakistan Standard Time is UTC+5 and does not change during the year. The complication is that London and New York do change their clocks, so the times when those sessions open in Pakistan move by one hour twice a year. This guide gives the exact PKT times for both periods, so the schedule is right whatever the month.
The forex market opens in Pakistan between 2:00 and 3:00 AM on Monday and closes between 2:00 and 3:00 AM on Saturday (PKT, UTC+5).
Four sessions run in sequence: Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. In Pakistan, the Tokyo session is fixed from 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM all year.
The London and New York session times in Pakistan shift by one hour twice a year, because Pakistan does not use daylight saving time while the UK, EU, and US do.
The busiest window for a trader in Pakistan is the London-to-New York overlap: about 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM PKT in winter and 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM PKT in summer.
Gold (XAU/USD) follows a similar schedule, with a one-hour daily break from 2:00 to 4:00 AM PKT.
The forex trading week opens on Sunday at 5:00 PM in New York. In Pakistan, that is early Monday morning: about 3:00 AM PKT when New York is on standard time (November to early March) and about 2:00 AM PKT when New York is on daylight time (March to early November). Trading begins with the Sydney session, which is why the first hours of the week are quiet.
The market then stays open until Friday at 5:00 PM in New York, which is about 3:00 AM PKT on Saturday in winter and 2:00 AM PKT on Saturday in summer. It stays closed over the weekend and reopens the following Sunday evening New York time. Prices can gap on the Monday open if news moves the market while the market is closed, so the first quotes of the week are not always where Friday left off.
If you want the full picture before you plan your hours, this page pairs well with our guide to getting started with forex trading in Pakistan.
The four sessions are named after the financial centers that lead them: Sydney, Tokyo (also called the Asian session), London (the European session), and New York (the US session). The table below shows each session in Pakistan time for both halves of the year.
| Session | PKT, November to March(US and UK on standard time) | PKT, March to November(US and UK on daylight time) | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 2:00 AM to 11:00 AM | 3:00 AM to 12:00 PM | Quietest of the four; narrow ranges |
| Tokyo (Asian) | 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM | 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM | Moderate; JPY and Asian pairs move |
| London (European) | 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM | 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM | Highest single-session volume; EUR and GBP pairs active |
| New York (US) | 6:00 PM to 3:00 AM | 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM | High activity; US data often drives larger moves |
| London to New York overlap | 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM | 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM | Peak liquidity of the day |
Two notes on the table. The Tokyo session does not change, because Japan does not use daylight saving time. Sydney appears to shift in the opposite direction to London and New York because Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, and its summer falls during the Northern Hemisphere winter. For most traders in Pakistan, the rows that matter are Tokyo, London, and New York.
The London session runs 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM PKT from November to March, and 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM PKT from March to November. London sets most of the daily range on EUR/USD and GBP/USD, and major European data and central bank decisions land in this window. We cover the London session hours in Pakistan in more detail in a separate guide.
The New York session runs 6:00 PM to 3:00 AM PKT from November to March, and 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM PKT from March to November. US releases such as Non-Farm Payrolls, CPI, and Federal Reserve decisions come out during this session and tend to produce the sharpest moves of the week.
The Tokyo session runs 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM PKT, and this does not change during the year. Japanese data and Bank of Japan activity concentrate here. Ranges are usually wider than Sydney's but narrower than London's or New York's.
The busiest hours are during the London-to-New York overlap, when the world’s two largest currency centers are open at the same time.
For a trader in Pakistan, that window is roughly 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM PKT from November to March and 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM PKT from March to November. More than half of daily forex volume passes through London and New York, so during the overlap trading volume is highest, and spreads are usually at their tightest.
The opposite is true in the gap between the New York close and the Tokyo open, roughly 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM PKT. Only Sydney is active, participants are few, and spreads on major pairs can be two to three times wider than during the overlap. Orders are also more likely to fill away from the requested level.
International gold, quoted as XAU/USD, trades on almost the same 24/5 schedule as forex, with one difference: a one-hour daily maintenance break.
For a trader in Pakistan, gold opens on Monday between 3:00 and 4:00 AM PKT and closes on Saturday between 2:00 and 3:00 AM PKT. Each weekday there is a one-hour pause around 2:00 to 4:00 AM PKT, when quoting stops and spreads widen.
Gold’s most active hours match the London and New York sessions, so the same evening window applies: about 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM PKT in winter and 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM PKT in summer. Note that this is the global spot and CFD gold market, not the local physical bullion market in Pakistan, which operates on its own hours.
If you trade metals, see how gold and commodity CFDs work, and the same session logic applies to oil if you plan to trade WTI and Brent crude oil from Pakistan.
Pakistan keeps the same clock all year. The UK, the European Union, and the US move their clocks forward in spring and back in autumn. When they move, the London and New York sessions land one hour earlier or later in Pakistan, while Tokyo stays put.
The switch dates are fixed and known in advance. In 2026, the US moved its clocks forward on March 8 and moved them back on November 1. The UK and EU moved forward on March 29 and move back on October 25.
Because the US and Europe switch on different dates, there are two short windows each year, roughly March 8 to 29 and October 25 to November 1, when they are out of step.
During those few weeks, the London-to-New York overlap is one hour longer or shorter than usual, so the evening window in Pakistan shifts slightly. Checking the exact dates twice a year keeps your schedule accurate.
Timing your reading of the economic calendar in your local time matters here too, since the same data release will appear at a different PKT clock time depending on the season.
The market opens on Monday at about 3:00 AM PKT when New York is on standard time (November to March) and about 2:00 AM PKT when New York is on daylight time (March to November). This corresponds to Sunday 5:00 PM in New York.
It closes on Saturday at about 3:00 AM PKT (November to March) or 2:00 AM PKT (March to November), which is Friday 5:00 PM in New York. It stays closed all weekend.
The London session runs 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM PKT from November to March, and 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM PKT from March to November.
The New York session runs 6:00 PM to 3:00 AM PKT from November to March, and 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM PKT from March to November.
The Tokyo (Asian) session runs from 5:00 AM to 2:00 PM PKT year-round. Japan does not observe daylight saving time, so it does not shift.
The London-to-New York overlap is the busiest window: about 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM PKT (November to March) and 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM PKT (March to November), when volume is highest, and spreads are usually tightest.
International gold (XAU/USD) opens on Monday between 3:00 and 4:00 AM PKT and closes on Saturday between 2:00 and 3:00 AM PKT, with a one-hour daily break between 2:00 and 4:00 AM PKT. Its most active hours match the London and New York sessions.
One practical point that catches out new traders in Pakistan: the clock on your trading platform is usually not set to PKT. MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 run on the broker’s server time, which is often GMT+2 or GMT+3, so the candles on your chart will not match your local clock.
Before you build a routine around the times above, check your broker’s server offset and convert, or add a session indicator to your chart. Once your platform time and your Pakistan clock line up, the session windows in this guide become straightforward to trade around. You can confirm the time settings on the MetaTrader 4 platform inside the terminal.
Disclaimer: This material is for general information purposes only and is not intended as (and should not be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by EBC or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person.
