What Are The Best Forex Pairs To Trade At Night?


There are a lot of reasons that the Forex market is as exciting an investment vehicle as it is today, but none of them are as important as this market being open 24/7. Unlike the stock market that runs Monday through Friday with opening bell in the morning and closing bell in the afternoon – and no trading on the weekends or during “bank holidays” – Forex is available to be traded around-the-clock.

That’s a huge deal, especially for those that want to capitalize on currency changes and fluctuations that might be happening while a lot of other investors are asleep. At the same time, not every currency pair should be traded overnight.

On the other hand, though, some of the best Forex currency pairs to trade at night can help investors make fortunes if they play their cards correctly.

The best forex currency pairs to trade at night at AUDNZD, AUDJPY and USDJPY. The AUD, NZD and JPY will have active markets during the night, meaning there will still be volume, liquidity and trading opportunities to capitalise upon.

What Are The Best Forex Currency Pairs To Trade At Night?

Finding the best Forex currency pairs to trade at night is a little more challenging than just looking at charts, trying to do a little market research, Ward getting into the weeds with technical analysisOpens in a new tab.

For starters, you need to have a general idea of which currency pairs are active in the market at all times of the day and night. And that’s not as immediately obvious as a lot of people think. 

Let’s say, for example, though that you want to make things a lot simpler for yourself. You just want the best Forex currency pairs to trade at night, a cheat sheet (if you will).

Here’s where you’re going to want to focus your attention:

AUD/NZD – This currency pair isn’t just one of the best Forex currency pairs to trade at night, but it’s also one of the most exciting (one of the most potentially lucrative) pairs thanks to the interrelationship here with commodity prices.

AUD/JPY – This currency pair sees a tremendous amount of volatility on a regular basis overnight, opening up a world of opportunity for those that aren’t shy about taking out a little more risk. The yen is traditionally pretty heavily interconnected with the US economy (and the USD) and moves in a similar direction. 

The Australian dollar, on the other hand, is more heavily influenced by the Chinese markets which means there’s a lot of directional change that way. It makes this currency pair very intriguing for overnight traders. 

USD/JPY – This currency pairing looks like a little bit of an oddball, especially since neither of these two currencies see a lot of movement during “daylight hours”.

That’s when most traders are looking at charts and tracking information, so much so that they might not spot the overnight trends that could shine a light on how lucrative this pair can be. 

Trading between 8 PM and 11 PM EST seems to be the “sweet spot”. This is when you’re going to see the biggest price moves in the best profit potential.

How to Avoid Ranging Forex Markets at Night

If you want to be sure to avoid “ranging” Forex markets overnight it’s a good idea to trade pairs that see a lot of volume.

This means that you’d want to steer clear of something like EUR/GBP at night – there’s not going to be a tremendous amount of volume there and that means you’re going to end up seeing a lot more ranging. 

The end result is lower opportunities to make the kind of money that you want to, especially when you’re trying to wheel and deal after most investors in that region are asleep. 

There are obvious exceptions to this rule to be sure (trading USD/EUR at night can still produce some winners if you are cautious), but there’s a reason that those are exceptions to the rule rather than the rule themselves.

Which Forex Pairs Should You Avoid Trading at Night?

The pairs that you want to try and avoid trading at night are pairs that have native populations asleep at the same time.

This means that the pair we just mentioned (USD/EUR) is one you are going to want to avoid trading at night whenever possible.

Sure, there’s a bit of a time difference between the West Coast of the United States and the furthest reaches of the European Union – but it’s not enough of a difference that millions and millions (billions, maybe) of people aren’t going to be asleep at the same time.

You just aren’t going to see the kind of movement you need to when people on both halves of the currency pair are sleeping at the same time (generally speaking).

No, you’re going to want to think about trading more exotic pairsOpens in a new tab.

It’s also a very good idea to make sure that you have at least some automation in place to better protect your investments during nighttime trading hours.

We are talking about instituting stop lossOpens in a new tab.

Automation helps to guarantee that you don’t have to handle the bulk of the heavy lifting of manually trading while you’d usually be asleep. 

Scalping at nighttime also helps you to improve your odds of success. Just be sure that you are wide-awake, are plenty rested yourself, and are prepared to put in all the energy and effort you would have during daytime trading hours – and maybe even more!

As soon as you start to get foggy or as soon as you start to get tired it’s a good idea to hit the eject button, let your automation take over, and get some sleep.

You don’t want to “sleepwalk” yourself into bad choices and bad trades that wipe out your Forex profits.

In Summary – What Are The Best Forex Currency Pairs To Trade At Night?

In conclusion, the best forex pairs to trade at night are those that have the most potential for price movement.

This means that you’ll want to trade pairs that see a lot of volume and avoid trading pairs with native populations asleep at the same time.

Automation can help you to better protect your investments during nighttime trading hours. As a general rule though, AUD, NZD and JPY pairs are the best forex pairs to trade at night.

What currency pairs do you trade at night? Let me know in the comments below.

Kyle Townsend

Kyle Townsend is the founder of Forex Broker Report, an experienced forex trader and an advocate for funding options for retail forex traders.

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