Gold trading hours at a glance
Gold has no single exchange. Spot gold (XAUUSD) is traded over the counter through a global network of banks, brokers and market makers, alongside COMEX futures run by CME Group. In practice the market is open continuously during the week, from the Asian open on Sunday evening to the New York close on Friday.
In Paris time, the weekly open is usually around 23:00 on Sunday and the close around 23:00 on Friday (about 22:00 in the UK, 17:00 in New York). A daily break of roughly one hour, often around 23:00–midnight Paris time, splits the session. On COMEX the pause runs from 5 pm to 6 pm New York time.
Exact times depend on your broker, platform and liquidity provider. Your broker's published schedule is the final word: some use a longer daily break or reduced hours on certain contracts.
The four main sessions
Gold follows the sun: activity passes from Sydney to Tokyo, then London, then New York. Sessions overlap, and each has its own character. The table gives approximate times in UK and Paris time; exact boundaries vary by source and by season.
| Session | Local hours (approx.) | UK time (approx.) | Paris time (approx.) | Typical character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 8:00 – 17:00 | 21:00–23:00 → 06:00–08:00 | 22:00–00:00 → 07:00–09:00 | Weekly open, moderate liquidity |
| Tokyo | 9:00 – 18:00 | 00:00–01:00 → 09:00–10:00 | 01:00–02:00 → 10:00–11:00 | Asian flows, often quieter for gold |
| London | 8:00 – 16:30 | 8:00 – 16:30 | 9:00 – 17:30 | Main hub for physical and OTC trading |
| New York | 8:00 – 17:00 | 13:00 – 22:00 | 14:00 – 23:00 | COMEX futures and major US data |
Daylight saving shifts all of this. Tokyo does not change its clocks, Sydney moves in the opposite direction to Europe, and the US and Europe switch on different dates. For a few weeks each spring and autumn the gap between London and New York drops from five hours to four, so a US release at 8:30 a.m. New York time lands at 12:30 UK time rather than 13:30 (13:30 in Paris instead of 14:30).
The London–New York overlap
From roughly 13:00 to 16:30 UK time (14:00 to 17:30 in Paris), London is still open while New York has just started. Gold's two main centres are working at once: the London OTC market, anchor of physical trading, and New York futures, the main channel for financial flows.
This window typically sees the highest volume and volatility of the day, and spreads are often tighter than overnight. It also contains the LBMA Gold Price auctions at 10:30 and 15:00 London time (11:30 and 16:00 in Paris) and most major US economic releases.
That is a statistical tendency, not a rule. A quiet news day can stay flat at 3 p.m., while a geopolitical shock can move gold at 3 a.m. Liquidity at a given moment is context, not a forecast. For what drives those moves, see what moves the gold price.
US data release times
US figures come out at fixed times, usually 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. New York time: 13:30 and 15:00 UK time, 14:30 and 16:00 in Paris for most of the year. The Fed's rate decision lands at 2:00 p.m. New York time (19:00 UK, 20:00 Paris), followed by the press conference.
| Paris time (usually) | UK time (usually) | New York time | Typical releases |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14:30 | 13:30 | 8:30 | Non-farm payrolls, CPI, PPI, jobless claims, retail sales, GDP |
| 16:00 | 15:00 | 10:00 | ISM surveys, JOLTS job openings, University of Michigan consumer sentiment |
| 20:00 | 19:00 | 14:00 | Fed rate decision, FOMC minutes |
| 20:30 | 19:30 | 14:30 | Fed Chair press conference (meeting days) |
These are the slots where the fastest XAUUSD moves tend to occur, because the numbers change rate expectations. Each indicator is explained in our guide to economic releases that move gold, and the gold economic calendar lists the exact times for the week.
Weekend gaps and holidays
While the market is closed, the news keeps coming. The Sunday evening opening price can therefore differ from Friday's last price: a weekend gap. A geopolitical escalation, a central bank decision or a political statement made during the closure is priced in all at once on reopening, with no prices in between.
For an open position, the practical issue is execution: a stop order placed at a level the price has jumped over is filled at the first available price, sometimes well beyond the requested level (slippage). Spreads are also often wider in the first minutes after the open.
Holidays change the schedule too. Christmas Day and New Year's Day bring closures or shortened sessions, Good Friday closes many venues, and US holidays such as Thanksgiving or the Fourth of July thin out liquidity, with early closes on futures. CME Group and your broker publish holiday calendars, usually several weeks ahead.
MetaTrader server time: mind the time zone
On MetaTrader 5, candles and history follow the broker's server time, not your local time. Many brokers set the server to GMT+2 in winter and GMT+3 in summer so that the daily candle rolls at the 5 p.m. New York close. That puts the server one hour ahead of Paris and two hours ahead of London, but it is not universal.
As a result, an hourly candle labelled 15:00 on your chart may be 14:00 in Paris. Check the offset against a release you know the time of before reading a volatility spike.
Gold trading hours: summary table
| Moment | Paris time (approx.) | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly open | Sunday around 23:00 | Gap risk versus Friday's close |
| Asian open | Overnight, 01:00–02:00 for Tokyo | Thinner liquidity, reacts to China and Japan data |
| London open | 09:00 | Volumes build gradually |
| LBMA AM price | 11:30 | Physical market benchmark (10:30 London) |
| US data | 14:30 and 16:00 | Frequent volatility spikes |
| London–New York overlap | 14:00 – 17:30 | Typically the highest volumes |
| LBMA PM price | 16:00 | Physical market benchmark (15:00 London) |
| Fed decision | 20:00 | Meeting days only |
| Daily break | Around 23:00–midnight | Varies by broker |
| Weekly close | Friday around 23:00 | Reduced liquidity late in the session |
To follow these appointments without juggling time zones, XAU Terminal shows the economic calendar with converted times and an impact reading of each release, next to the live gold price.