Learn all about the daily and hourly price movements of the EURUSD, including what drives the EURUSD price, the highest/lowest volatility times of the day, hourly price movement tendencies, daily average movement, and the EURUSD’s average movement by day-of-the-week.

The Forex Trading Sessions

The forex trading sessions, and which session we are in, has a big impact on EURUSD volatility and price movement.

The forex market is open 24 hours a day, from 5 pm EST on Sunday, to 5 pm EST on Friday. 24-hour trading is possible because there are always countries open for business at all times throughout the day.

On Sunday evening, Asia and Australia open for business, then the European markets open, then the North and South American markets open. Throughout the 24-hour period, there is always a major financial center open. To name a few: Sydney, Tokyo, London, New York/Toronto. When you go to trade, no matter what time of day it is, someone is willing to transact with you, because banks, brokers, and businesses are open for business somewhere.

While there are many countries and cities open for business at any given time, many traders refer to the London, New York, Sydney, and Tokyo sessions because they are major financial centers that all link up to form a continuous 24-hour trading day.

Forex sessions in EST.

How the EURUSD Moves During the Different Sessions

As a general guideline, the EURUSD tends to move the most during the London and New York sessions. This is because all of Europe is trading and all of North and South America are trading at the same time. The “overlap” period between London and New York tends to see the most price action.

Mataf.net provides excellent tools for seeing how much pairs move at different times of the day.

The tools adjust to the timezone on your computer. Here is the graph of the EURUSD in Eastern Time (EST). This is a 10-week average as of July 8, 2022.

While the number of pips a currency moves in a day will change over time, the highest and lowest points tend to stay the same. For example, we can see that the activity in the EURUSD picks up at 0200 when Germany opens, and especially at 0300 when London opens. After that, movement tends to remain elevated till about 1200, and sees a spike near 0800 when the US opens.

Price movement tends to be highest when London and New York are both open, from 0800 to 1200. I enjoy trading around this time. But really any time between about 2 AM and 12 AM EST is good for day trading the EURUSD…that’s a big window.

Right now, volatility tends to be highest near the London open, which is a bit of an anomaly, historically speaking. Usually the US open sees the highest movement.

Then action tapers off heading into the US close and then usually stays pretty quiet until London is about to open again. The quietest time to day trade is between Noon and 0000 EST. There is usually less movement and the price is more choppy during this time.

EURUSD Average Daily Price Movement (in pips)

I also like to look at how much the EURUSD is moving, on average, for the entire day. For example, I may see that the EURUSD is moving 70 pips per day (average over the last 10 weeks). I then set my y-axis on my day trading chart each morning to show about 70 pips of price action. This keeps the scale of my chart roughly the same day after day.

I like the chart on Investing.com that shows how volatility changes over time. You can set how far back you want to go, such as 3, 6, or 12 months. If you notice that you are getting a lot more trades, while day trading for example, or a lot fewer trades, it will often have to do with how much overall movement there is each day.

As volatility drops, my strategies tend to get fewer signals, while in high volatility I tend to have more trades, generally. Seeing the overall daily volatility helps me understand and see why this is happening. If I didn’t look at this, I may start wondering why no trades are popping up, then questioning myself or forcing trades when I shouldn’t be.

The following chart shows volatility over the last year, up to July 8, 2022.

Over the course of the 12 months, EURUSD daily average movement went from quite low to quite high. It went from about 50 pips per day back in August to October of 2021, up to more than 90 pips of movement per day between March and July of 2022.

Volatility by Day of Week

I don’t do anything with this, but post it more for interest. Some days tend to be more volatile than others.

The following is a 10-week average. Monday tends to be a little lower volatility than the rest of the days of the week. Thursday currently tends to be the most volatile day of the week. This is also from Mataf.net. If you notice your profits are a little lower on Monday than most other days, it may not be your weekend hangover, it may be that Mondays tend to be a bit quieter in the EURUSD. Fridays also tend to have less movement, except you may notice more movement on the Fridays when Non-Farm Payrolls are released out of the US.

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EURUSD Daily Average Movement Over the Long-Term

The following chart shows daily average movement (10-week average) going back 5 years.

As you can see, the average daily movement in the EURUSD can change dramatically over time. Currently, we’re experiencing above-average volatility.

Discover methods that work in all types of volatility conditions: EURUSD Day Trading Course.

Cory Mitchell, CMT

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article is personal investment advice, or advice to buy or sell anything. Trading is risky and can result in substantial losses, even more than deposited if using leverage.