U.S.–EUROPEAN OVERLAP: 8 A.M.–12 P.M. EST

The FX markets tend to be most active when the hours of the world’s two
largest trading centers overlap. (See Figure 5.4.) The range of trading between 8 a.m. and noon EST constitutes on average 70 percent of the total
average range of trading for all of the currency pairs during the European
trading hours and 80 percent

of the total average range of trading for all of the currency pairs during U.S. trading hours. Just these percentages alone tell day traders that if they are really looking for volatile price action and wide ranges and cannot sit at the screen all day, the time to trade is the U.S. and European overlap.