Gold Market Sessions
Is the gold market open right now, and when does each trading centre open and close? Spot gold has no single exchange clock: it changes hands around the world, handed from Sydney to Tokyo to London to New York as each centre’s day begins. The times below update every second and follow daylight saving automatically.
Usual hours, Monday to Friday
| Centre | Local hours | Time zone |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 7:00 am to 4:00 pm | Australian Eastern time |
| Tokyo | 9:00 am to 6:00 pm | Japan Standard Time |
| Shanghai | 9:00 am to 3:30 pm, and 8:00 pm to 2:30 am | China Standard Time; day and night sessions |
| London | 8:00 am to 5:00 pm | UK time |
| New York | 8:00 am to 5:00 pm | US Eastern time |
The weekly market follows the CME gold-futures schedule: Sunday 6 pm to Friday 5 pm New York time, with a break from 5 pm to 6 pm Monday to Thursday. Regional sessions are each centre’s usual business hours, not official exchange rules, and public holidays are not included.
Gold trading hours: common questions
+When does the gold market open and close?
Spot gold trades almost around the clock, five days a week. The trading week starts on Sunday at 6 pm New York time and ends on Friday at 5 pm. From Monday to Thursday there is a one-hour break each day, from 5 pm to 6 pm New York time.
+What time does the New York gold session open and close?
The New York session is usually counted as 8:00 am to 5:00 pm New York time, the working day of US dealers and traders. COMEX gold futures themselves trade nearly around the clock; the New York session is when US trading and US economic data are most active.
+Which session is the busiest for gold?
The overlap of London and New York, about 8:00 am to 12:00 pm New York time (1:00 pm to 5:00 pm in London), is usually the most active stretch of the day, because the two biggest trading centres are open together.
+Why does the gold price pause at 5 pm New York time?
The futures market that sets the day's rhythm takes a one-hour break from 5 pm to 6 pm New York time on weekdays, and the price feed pauses with it. This site's daily closes use the same break.
+Does this page account for holidays?
No. The hours here are the usual hours of each centre and of the weekly gold market. On public holidays and around Christmas and New Year, exchanges close early or stay shut, and the live countdowns above will not reflect that.