Gold market
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- Asia (Tokyo)closed
- Londonclosed
- New Yorkclosed
Gold market hours in UK and New York time
Spot gold (XAUUSD) runs on New York time: it opens on Sunday at 18:00 New York, closes on Friday at 17:00 New York, and pauses for an hour every day at 17:00. In UK time that's:
| UK | New York | |
|---|---|---|
| Week opens (Sunday) | 23:00 | 18:00 |
| Daily break (Mon–Thu) | 22:00–23:00 | 17:00–18:00 |
| Week closes (Friday) | 22:00 | 17:00 |
The three sessions
| Session | UK (winter) | UK (summer) | New York (winter) | New York (summer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asia (Tokyo) | 00:00–09:00 | 01:00–10:00 | 19:00–04:00 | 20:00–05:00 |
| London | 08:00–17:00 | 08:00–17:00 | 03:00–12:00 | 03:00–12:00 |
| New York | 13:00–22:00 | 13:00–22:00 | 08:00–17:00 | 08:00–17:00 |
| London–NY overlap | 13:00–17:00 | 13:00–17:00 | 08:00–12:00 | 08:00–12:00 |
- Asia (Tokyo): Quietest hours. Ranges are usually tight; Chinese and Indian physical demand shows up here.
- London: The physical gold market's home. Volume and range jump at the open.
- New York: US data at 08:30 New York time and COMEX futures drive the biggest moves of the day.
- London–New York overlap: both big centres open at once. Typically the most liquid, most volatile window of the day for gold.
Times that move gold
| Event | UK | New York |
|---|---|---|
| LBMA Gold Price auction (AM) | 10:30 | 05:30 |
| US economic data (CPI, jobs, GDP…) | 13:30 | 08:30 |
| LBMA Gold Price auction (PM) | 15:00 | 10:00 |
| FOMC rate decision (8 meetings a year) | 19:00 | 14:00 |
| Daily break starts (spreads widen) | 22:00 | 17:00 |
The biggest scheduled movers are US numbers: CPI inflation, non-farm payrolls (usually the first Friday of the month) and Federal Reserve decisions. Spreads widen into them and stops can slip. If you trade the release, size down; see risk per trade.
The clock-change weeks
The US moves its clocks on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November; the UK on the last Sundays of March and October. In between, the UK is only 4 hours ahead of New York, so everything tied to New York time (the open, the daily break, US data, the overlap) happens an hour earlier in the UK.
| 4-hour weeks | US data in UK time | Daily break in UK time |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Mar – 27 Mar 2027 | 12:30 | 21:00–22:00 |
| 31 Oct – 6 Nov 2027 | 12:30 | 21:00–22:00 |
Weekends and gaps
Between Friday's close and Sunday's open, gold doesn't trade, but news keeps happening. Sunday's first price can open well away from Friday's last one. Stops don't protect you through a gap: they fill at the first available price. That's why some traders close or reduce positions before the weekend.