Forex, gold and index markets trade almost 24 hours from Monday to Friday, but volume is concentrated in three sessions: Tokyo, London and New York. This guide converts them to Philippine Time (PHT, UTC+8) and suggests how to use them in a prop firm challenge.
Session times in the Philippines
- Tokyo session: about 08:00–14:00 local time.
- London open: 15:00 in the northern summer, 16:00 in winter.
- New York stock market open: 21:30 in the northern summer, 22:30 in winter.
- London–New York overlap (most liquid): about 20:00–00:00 in summer, 21:00–01:00 in winter.
The Philippines has no daylight saving time. The Tokyo session overlaps with the local working day, while London and New York fall in the afternoon and night.
Which markets move when
- EURUSD and GBPUSD: from the London open through the overlap.
- Gold (XAUUSD): London open and especially the New York session, when US data is released.
- Nasdaq, S&P 500 and US30: the first 90 minutes after the New York open.
- USDJPY: the Tokyo morning and the New York session.
- Crypto: 24/7, with more volume during London and New York hours.
A realistic schedule
Traders in Manila often choose between USDJPY and gold during the Tokyo morning, or a focused evening session from the London open. The US open late at night is powerful but costs sleep: pick one.
Paying for a challenge
Buying USDT through Binance P2P with GCash or a bank transfer is a common way to fund a challenge from the Philippines.