Forex markets are open 24 hours a day five days a week. But of course they close for the weekend late on Friday evening London time, or at the end of the business day on the east coast of the USA if you prefer. This begs the question which Forex markets open first each day and where does the new Forex business week start ? To answer these questions we need to think back to our school geography lessons, look at the map of the globe and consult the world clock.

Dateline London

As with most matters related to international dates and timelines the starting point is found in London. But not in the traditional heartland of finance, the City of London. Nor indeed in its much younger neighbour Canary Wharf, whose shining towers are located on the former docks of the Isle of Dogs. In fact to find our starting point we need to head south from Canary Wharf and cross under the river Thames. Whether we travel on the docklands light railway, or walk via the foot tunnel linking Millwall with Greenwich, which opened all the way back in 1902. Once in Greenwich we will need to head through the town and up the hill, to the park beyond. Then onwards to the Royal Observatory and the site of the prime meridian, from which all international dates and times were calculated. This imaginary line, that circumnavigates the globe is humbly denoted, at the observatory, by an unassuming stainless steel strip during the day and the iridescent glow of a laser beam at night, yet it is intrinsically linked to global trade and the development of the modern world.

Time out

It was the ability to track and calculate, with precision, the time that you had travelled east or west away from Greenwich, that allowed mariners to accurately plot their position on world's oceans. An ability that facilitated massive growth in both the volume, speed and safety of international trade. Which in turn helped London become the global centre of finance that it is today. All of this is thanks to the work of the British clock maker John Harrison who produced the first reliable working marine chronograph in 1760. Today the usual form of notation used when describing an international date and time is to reference it as being a certain number of hours ahead of or behind GMT or Greenwich Mean Time. A fitting and lasting tribute to Harrison's tireless and timeless work.

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Forex markets are open for business 24 hours a day, for 5 days per week, but this does not include weekends. The market opens in Australasia/ Asia  on the later part of a Sunday evening London time  but early morning in the far east. The Forex markets then trade continuously until the close of business in New York, around 10.30pm London time, the following Friday*.  During these 5 days the Forex market will turnover more than US$25 trillion according to data from the Bank for International Settlements, or BIS, triennial survey 2016. *Note that closing and opening times may vary due to daylight saving regimes. To put that figure into context - this means that each week the Forex markets turnover a sum, that is larger than the total GDP of the USA is in a year. US GDP is circa US$17.98 trillion per annum by the way. During these five day periods millions of Forex trades need to be reconciled and settled and monies paid out and received. Forex market hours are aligned to banking hours across the globe. Banks have historically not opened for business at the weekend and neither do the markets.

Regional sessions

The Forex market has distinct regional sessions which can be thought of as Asian, European and North American. The table below shows Forex market turnover in US$, in individual financial centres,  as sampled by the BIS survey. The Asian session sees turnover split between Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan (Tokyo). The second biggest session is in the USA - most of the turnover takes place in New York, though there will be some transactions in the Midwest and on the West coast as well. However it's the European session (which straddles the Asian close and US open) that is by far the most active and this itself is dominated by London, which is the global hub and home of Foreign Exchange trading. London's contribution to global Forex turnover is almost twice that of its nearest competitor, New York (USA) as we can see below. The table above data is drawn from the BIS triennial survey 2016 : Figures are daily turnover in billions of US$

London's role

Whilst London does the lion's share of global Forex business each week. Sterling is not necessarily  the most actively traded currency. We can see this in our second table below which shows the  average daily turnover by currency, in billions of US$ equivalents. Table is drawn from the BIS triennial survey 2016 : Figures are daily turnover in billions of US$ As we can clearly see the US dollar is the most active currency.  Partly because of its role as the global reserve currency, but primarily because it is the counter-party to and a participant in the vast majority of Forex transactions. Even when business is conducted that does not involve the US dollar directly, for example in a Euro CHF (Swiss Franc) trade. The respective rates between the Swiss Franc and the US dollar and the Euro and the US dollar provide a reference or framework for the Euro CHF quote. To learn more about Forex prices please visit Forex Rates. In effect then in Forex all roads lead to the Dollar. The Euro, the Yen and the Pound Sterling are the next most actively traded currencies. The two classical commodity linked currencies, the Australian and Canadian Dollars are next in line. With the “safe haven” Swiss Franc in 7th place just ahead of the Chinese Yuan. We can draw some interesting conclusions from the two tables, For example daily Forex turnover in Japan is of the order of US $400 billion, whilst the daily turnover in Yen is just over a trillion dollars.  Which implies that $600 billion worth of Yen is traded outside of Japan on a daily basis I think that serves to show how globalised the Forex markets really are.

Here to help

This might all sound quite daunting to those  that are new to trading. But tens of thousands of retail clients just like you participate in this 24 hour a day. multi trillion dollar business, on a regular basis. Brokerages such as Blackwell Global exist specifically to facilitate access to Forex and other financial markets for retail customers. We offer clients access to research and educational resources and state of the art trading software. You can watch and learn about the markets using one of our free demo trading accounts. Using this you can practise in and familiarise yourself with the markets in a realistic simulation, safe in the knowledge that you are not risking any real cash. The Blackwell Trader MT4 platform is available for desktop PCs, as well as Android and iOS mobile devices. Offering you maximum flexibility and the opportunity to monitor and trade the markets from anywhere you have a stable and secure internet connection. So why not apply today ? After all with a demo trading account you literally have nothing to lose.

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This is a good question, though it's also one that doesn't have a straightforward answer as an individuals or corporates tax status will vary, based on factors such as the jurisdictions they trade from and or are taxed in. Please note that Blackwell Global are not tax advisers and clients should seek specialist advice if they have concerns or questions on this subject. It's certainly true to say that in the United Kingdom and under UK tax law, profits that are made through CFD trading, by individuals (who are taxed in the UK) and which are in excess of an individual's annual capital gains tax allowances, would be subject to UK taxation. In the tax year 2016 - 2017 the annual individual capital gains tax allowance is £11,100.00. Of course the flip-side to this coin is that losses incurred through CFD trading could potentially be offset against capital gains that are made elsewhere. In any event before we need to worry too much about tax liabilities we need to think about we are going to make consistent and regular profits from our trading. If we can go on to achieve this and have a glass half full outlook. Then we probably shouldn't mind too much if we have pay a bit of tax on our winnings.

CFDs offer many benefits to traders

There are numerous other benefits to CFD trading however, which include the ability to trade long (buy) or short (sell) with equal ease. Regardless of whether you own the underlying instruments or not. CFDs are settled for cash, so there is no need for traders to concern themselves with taking or making delivery of the underlying instruments. Nor do traders have to consider delivery or expiry dates, as our CFD contracts are priced on a rolling spot basis and as such never expire. There is just one quote to focus on per instrument - rather than the specific prices for monthly or quarterly contract dates associated with futures style trading.

Wide range of CFD contracts

Blackwell Global offers its customer access to a wide range of Equity and Commodity based CFDs. Our Equity Index CFDs allow clients to take a view on Equity markets from around the globe. Providing opportunities for asset allocation and portfolio diversification, as and when trends arise in the marketplace. Our contracts on Oil and Precious Metals provide our clients with the ability to trade some of world's most important commodities, full details of the contracts we offer can be found here CFDs.

Leveraged products

CFDs are traded on a leveraged basis. Which means that traders can control larger positions in the market, than their accounts would otherwise allow. In effect their broker gears up or leverages a client's deposit. Thereby lending them money and charging them a rate of interest for doing so, if the clients hold open positions overnight. The ability to leverage or gear your exposure can magnify your trading profits. But be aware that leverage can also do exactly the same for trading losses.

Understanding  leverage

Traders should always respect their use of leverage and should familiarise themselves with its operation in a Demo Account environment, before engaging in live trading. The good news is that this is a really simple thing to do. You just need to complete this short form Demo trading account and click on the Open My Demo Account button. Then simply download your trading platform (see download) and login to gain access to a highly realistic simulation of the live market. Which you can trade on without any risk to your own capital. Until such time as you are ready to trade the real thing. In this way you can familiarise yourself with leverage and other aspects of CFD trading.

One trading platform multiple devices

Today's online CFD trader wants to be able to deal from a variety of locations across multiple devices. Blackwell Trader MT4 offers you just that functionality. Our state of the art trading software can be downloaded for both desktop PCs as well as Android and iOS mobile devices. Your individual account  logins will work on all versions and traders can deal seamlessly and transition from one device to another as required. Blackwell Global Trader MT4 comes complete with a built in high, quality charting package that's loaded with indicators and studies.So that traders like you can hit the ground running. Tracking CFD prices and charts couldn’t be more straightforward and trading is just a click or two away.

Tracking performance and profitability

Blackwell Global also offers its clients a dedicated back office system, Infinitum. That allows them to monitor and track their trading activity and account balances. Blackwell Global clients receive daily trade confirmations on each day they deal. These show the opening and closing prices of individual trades, open positions and the profit and loss accruing from them. It's always worth taking the time to check these confirmations and making sure they match your records. Clients also receive monthly statements that contain details of all the trades they have made in the preceding period, as well as their monthly cumulative P&L,inclusive of any charges. These documents provide an invaluable record of your profitability and can be very useful when you are tallying your overall year end performance for tax purposes. Note as well that Blackwell Trader MT4 provides users with live P&L, deposit and margin requirement information on both demo and live accounts, via its built in terminal functions. To find out more about CFD trading with Blackwell Global why not register for and download our free CFD starter kit here.

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