Trading sessions and killzones: times, what happens in each, and how to test themBeginner
Asian, London and New York sessions and the ICT killzones, with exact times in New York and London time, daylight saving notes and test rules.
Why time matters
Markets do not move evenly through the day. Most of the range in forex, gold and index futures is made in a few hours when the big centres open. Killzones are the ICT name for those hours. Trading only inside them is the simplest filter you can add to any strategy, and one of the easiest to check in a backtest.
The three sessions
| Session | New York time | London time | What usually happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian (Tokyo, Sydney) | 19:00–04:00 | 00:00–09:00 | Quiet range on the European pairs; JPY, AUD and NZD move more |
| London | 03:00–11:30 | 08:00–16:30 | Most forex volume; often makes the high or low of the day |
| New York | 08:00–17:00 | 13:00–22:00 | US data at 08:30, stocks open at 09:30; overlap with London is the busiest part of the day |
The ICT killzones
| Killzone | New York time | London time | Typical idea |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian killzone | 20:00–00:00 | 01:00–05:00 | Builds the Asian range that later gets swept |
| London open killzone | 02:00–05:00 | 07:00–10:00 | Sweep of the Asian high or low, then the real move |
| New York AM killzone | 07:00–10:00 | 12:00–15:00 | News and the stock open; continuation or reversal of London |
| London close killzone | 10:00–12:00 | 15:00–17:00 | Profit taking; retracement of the day's move |
| New York PM session | 13:30–16:00 | 18:30–21:00 | Last move in indices into the close |
Silver Bullet and macro windows
ICT's Silver Bullet uses three one-hour windows in New York time: 03:00–04:00 (London), 10:00–11:00 (AM) and 14:00–15:00 (PM). Macros are even shorter 20 to 30 minute windows around the hour, such as 08:50–09:10 and 09:50–10:10. The shorter the window, the more data you need before the result means anything.
Daylight saving time
London is 5 hours ahead of New York for most of the year. The US changes clocks on the second Sunday of March and the first Sunday of November; the UK on the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October. In the weeks between, the gap is 4 hours. ICT times are written in New York time, so if you write your rules in New York time the windows stay on the market opens all year. WickCheck understands both: write 'New York time' or 'London time' in your rules.
Which markets suit which window
EURUSD and GBPUSD: London open and New York AM. Gold: London open and New York AM, often around the 08:30 data. ES and NQ: New York AM from 09:30, and the PM session. USDJPY: Asian and London open. Crypto trades all day, but volume still clusters around the London and New York opens.
How to test killzones
- Take one setup, for example a liquidity sweep then a fair value gap entry.
- Run it with no time filter to get a baseline.
- Run it again in each killzone on its own: 02:00–05:00, 07:00–10:00, 10:00–12:00 and 13:30–16:00 New York time.
- Compare trade count and profit factor. If one window is clearly better on several markets and on both halves of the data, the time filter is part of your edge. If the best window changes from market to market, be careful: it may be noise.
Common mistakes
Mixing time zones (your local time, broker time, UTC and New York time) in the same plan. Forgetting daylight saving time. Judging a one-hour window from 20 trades. Trading every killzone every day instead of the one or two that fit your market.
What it looks like on a real chart
Picked automatically from the backtest on real data: the latest winner and the latest loser. The numbered circles are the steps of the rules, in order. Losers are part of every strategy.
How WickCheck tests it
Between 02:00 and 05:00 New York time, wait for a sweep of the Asia high or low, then wait for a fair value gap. Enter on the FVG. Stop above the sweep. Target liquidity, at least 2R.
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Full results on 5 markets: Trading sessions and killzones: times, what happens in each, and how to test them.
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Education only, not financial advice. Definitions vary between teachers; these are ours, written for clarity.