In forex trading, there is a huge amount to consider when looking at opportunities. One of the biggest factors to consider is the time of day. Trading at the right time of day can make a huge difference to volume, spreads, liquidity and the strength of the market you’re trying to trade. With that being said, what is the best time to trade forex for Nigerian traders?
The best time to trade forex in Nigeria is 09:00 as this is when the London session will be opening. The New York session will open at 2:00pm Nigerian time, so this is also a great time to trade. During the few hours after the sessions open, you’ll find lower spreads, great volume and high quality opportunities in the markets.
What Time Should You Trade Forex, In Nigeria?
It’s one thing knowing how to trade forex, but another to know when you should be in the markets and when you should be on the sidelines. Although the foreign exchange market is the largest market in the world and the liquidity is huge, volumes through the markets aren’t always that large.
When you’re trading at the wrong time during the day, volume will be incredibly low. This means your spreads will increase and you’re more likely to see consolidating price action. If you’re a trader that likes to use the charts and technical analysis to predict price movement, it’s very important to pick your battles and only trade at certain periods during the day.
Nigeria doesn’t have much of an institutional forex presence, yet. However, the retail trader presence is growing rapidly within the country and traders are able to capitalise on the volatility of the London, New York and Asian sessions.
If you’re unsure about time zones, you can use a forex session converter
to understand exactly when sessions will be opening up to trade.
| Session | Time Of Open (Nigerian Time) |
| London | 9am |
| New York | 1pm |
| Asian | 12am |
| Pacific | 12am |
Trading The London Forex Session In Nigeria
The London forex session is the best time to trade forex during the day, due to the high volume. During the first few hours of the day there will be a huge amount of money flowing. This gives us better opportunities, cleaner moves within the markets and less ranging of currency pairs.
The London session starts at 9am Nigerian local time. The session will go on until 5pm Nigerian time, however, past 12pm you will notice a drop off in volume from the London institutions and I would recommend staying away from the last few hours of the session. It is usually a bad time to trade forex, at the end of a session.
Once you have selected a forex session to trade, it’s equally as important to select a pair or a few pairs to be trading. I have recently written an article breaking down the best forex pairs to trade during the London session, so feel free to give that a read.
Trading The New York Forex Session In Nigeria
The New York session begins at 1pm Nigerian local time, which is a great time to trade. The volume is huge during the London/NY crossover and this usually provides the largest moves of the day, during the first few hours. Looking at the TradingView chart above of EURUSD, we can see that around 1pm Nigerian time everyday – volume increases and there is typically a large move that takes place.
For this reason I’d highly recommend trading the New York session if you’re a forex trader in Nigeria. Once the London trading session starts to wrap up, around 5pm Nigerian time, you’ll also notice that the New York trading session slows right down and at that point I would look at slowing down for the day, if not just stopping trading completely.
Trading The Asian Forex Session In Nigeria
The asian forex session begins at 12am in Nigeria, and runs until 9am. This is not a very good time to trade forex though, as the volume in the markets is incredibly low. During this session you’re much more likely to see consolidation, extremely aggressive moves, higher spreads and just a lower amount of opportunity in general.
If you’re set on trading the Asian session in Nigeria then the first hour and the last hour are going to be the most opportune times. I’d recommend sitting out of this session and focusing more on the London and US trading sessions.
If you are wanting to trade every session of the day, including Asian, I’d recommend taking a look at which currency pairs you’re going to trade as European and US currencies typically have no volume during this session. I have a full article here looking at the best forex pairs to trade during the Asian session, which will come in handy.
In Summary, When Is The Best Time For Nigerian Forex Traders To Trade?
In conclusion, the best time for forex traders in Nigeria to trade is at 9am for the London session open, then at 1pm for the New York markets to open. The Asian session is usually not worth trading but this begins at 12am, so it’ll be a tough one to stay awake for!
If you have any experience trading from Nigeria please do let me know, I’d be interested to hear your opinion.
