MYM Trading Hours: Sessions, Breaks and Clock Changes
MYM trades almost around the clock, but not every hour is the same. Liquidity, volatility and the character of the moves depend on which part of the world is active. For a trader in Europe, knowing this map is the basis for planning your day, your sleep and your energy.
The CME Globex day (Warsaw time; New York time in brackets)
In the standard arrangement, when the time difference between Europe and the US is the usual 6 hours:
- about 00:00 (6:00 PM ET): the new trading day starts after the break (on Sunday: the weekly open)
- 00:00–09:00 (6:00 PM–3:00 AM ET): the Asian session, usually lower liquidity
- 09:00–15:30 (3:00–9:30 AM ET): the European session, rising activity, European data releases and, at 14:30 (8:30 AM ET), many US releases
- 15:30–22:00 (9:30 AM–4:00 PM ET): the regular New York session. The highest liquidity and volatility. This is when I do most of my live work.
- 22:00–23:00 (4:00–5:00 PM ET): trading after the stock market close
- 23:00–00:00 (5:00–6:00 PM ET): the daily maintenance break, market closed
On Friday trading ends at 23:00 Warsaw time (5:00 PM ET) and resumes on Sunday evening.
Regular session vs the full day
Many levels, such as the profile or VWAP, can be calculated from the regular session alone or from the full 24-hour day. These are two different pictures of the market:
- the regular session shows what the biggest participants did during the most liquid hours
- the full day also includes overnight moves, often on thinner liquidity
It's important to know what data each level on your chart comes from (article #9).
Clock changes: the transition weeks
Europe and the US change their clocks on different dates (in spring and autumn). In the transition weeks the difference between Warsaw and New York is 5 hours instead of 6. During those weeks, in European time:
- the regular session opens at 14:30 instead of 15:30
- US data releases move one hour earlier
- the daily break starts at 22:00
It's worth marking these weeks in your calendar in advance.
What this means for your day
- Build your preparation, meals and sleep around the regular session (the 💪 Fitness and routine space, Fundamentals #10).
- Think about whether overnight trading fits your style and your body clock. For most traders in Europe, the regular session is more than enough.
Exercise
Look up the dates of the next clock changes in Europe and the US and note the weeks in which the open falls at 14:30 European time.
Educational content, not investment advice. No signals, entries or position sizes.
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