Lessons › Markets of the world › Opening bells around the world

World 6 · Markets of the world · lesson 2 · level 2

Opening bells around the world

When Tokyo is closing, Europe is waking up, so the trading day travels around the planet.

In one line

When Tokyo is closing, Europe is waking up, so the trading day travels around the planet.

Explained simply

Imagine a relay race around the world where each runner starts when the morning reaches their city. Markets work the same way: Tokyo's bell rings first, then India's, London's and New York's. Forex keeps running all week and crypto never stops.

The lesson

Tokyo trades from 9:00 to 15:30 Japan time with a lunch break from 11:30 to 12:30. India's NSE and BSE trade shares from 9:15 to 15:30 India time after a short pre-open, but shares that also have futures and options stop at 15:15 for a closing auction that ends at 15:35, and stock and index futures and options trade until 15:40. London's main market trades from 8:00 to 16:30 UK time, and the main US stock session runs from 9:30 to 16:00 New York time, which is 19:00 to 01:30 India time while US daylight saving is on and 20:00 to 02:30 when it is off. Forex trades 24 hours on weekdays and crypto never closes, so putting every market on one clock, such as UTC or your own time, stops you missing an open.

A worked example

Example: in July, New York is 4 hours behind UTC, while India is 5.5 hours ahead and Japan 9 hours ahead. The US opening bell at 9:30 New York time is 13:30 UTC (9.5 plus 4 = 13.5 hours), which is 19:00 in India (13.5 plus 5.5 = 19) and 22:30 in Japan (13.5 plus 9 = 22.5). In January, when US daylight saving is off, New York is 5 hours behind UTC, so the same bell rings at 20:00 India time (9.5 plus 5 plus 5.5 = 20).

The same idea at four levels

1. Beginner. Each stock market opens and closes at set local times, so the trading day moves around the world.
2. Foundation. Tokyo trades 9:00 to 15:30 Japan time with a lunch break, India 9:15 to 15:30 (shares with futures and options end with a 15:15 to 15:35 closing auction), London 8:00 to 16:30 and New York 9:30 to 16:00, each in local time.
3. Intermediate. Convert to one clock: the US open at 9:30 New York time is 19:00 India time and 22:30 Japan time while US daylight saving is on.
4. Advanced. US daylight saving runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, and the UK changes its clocks on different Sundays, so the gaps between cities shift for a few weeks each year.
5. Expert. Experts keep a session map in UTC, note overlaps such as London and New York, and plan around each market's open, lunch break and close.

Mistakes to avoid

• Forgetting that US daylight saving time shifts US hours by one hour as seen from India and Japan.
• Forgetting Tokyo's lunch break when planning a trade.
• Reading a chart set to UTC as if it were in your local time.

Goal of this lesson: Convert market hours between time zones and know when each market is open.