Economy
Best Time to Trade Forex in Nigeria
If you wonder when it’s best to trade Forex to get the best results and what the best hours to maximize your returns are, this article is for you. Read on to get the answers to these questions and find out the best trading hours.
While it can be a matter of personal preferences when to trade, and you can allocate your time depending on your daily schedule, let’s see when it’s best to enter the market to make higher profits and when it’s best to keep off trading.
Best days to trade Forex
You may have noticed that on some particular days, markets move more actively than on others. Take a look at the table below and check out the average volatility in pips for three major currency pairs (EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY) depending on the business day:
As we can see, all three pairs register the highest volatility on Tuesday and Wednesday. With that in mind, we recommend entering the market during periods of high market volatility. This way, you’ll be able to take advantage of more trading opportunities and maximize your profit even if you are using a trading bot.
Trading sessions
Now that we’ve figured out the best trading days, let’s talk about the most favourable trading time. Trading in the foreign exchange market takes place 24 hours a day five days a week. However, currency pairs can move at a different pace at different times. Although Forex is a decentralized market, a significant amount of money comes from banks, and they stick to a certain schedule.
Forex trading sessions can be divided into four major groups:
- North American (New York)
- Asian (Tokyo)
- European (London)
- Pacific (Sydney)
At the beginning of every session, the currencies are gaining momentum:
During the European session, all pairs containing the euro and the pound sterling demonstrate high volatility, with EUR/USD, EUR/GBP and EUR/CHF showing the largest trading volumes. Very often, the trend can commence in the European trading session and continue into the American session.
In the American session, the pairs containing the US dollar are on the rise: EUR/USD, USD/CHF and USD/JPY. During this time, the Canadian dollar, the USD/CAD pair, comes to life. During the American session, the trend may reverse. Besides, important economic reports are generally released in the evening. Those can trigger volatility spikes in currency pairs that include the US dollar.
In the Asian and Pacific session, the pairs containing the Japanese yen and NZD/USD are especially active. Throughout the night session, the market is tranquil since US and European banks are closed. The volatility is low, so the price often fails to gain momentum and break any key levels. So, the market is usually flat with the price trading within the range. For this reason, most traders prefer not to trade at night.
Best intervals for day trading
9.20 – 9.50 – The beginning of the European session. Trading volume is significant. While this trading interval offers a lot of trading opportunities, it’s highly risky as well. If you are a novice trader, we suggest that you don’t rush into the market at this point. Wait till the volatility settles a bit.
9.40 – 10.10 – Trading volumes are still significant, the quotes are moving fast, liquidity is sufficient. Now that the situation has already stabilized, it’s the perfect time to enter the market and place your orders.
10.25 – 11.10 – Volatility decreases, market participants lock in their profits and close their trades. This time interval is the best to start scheduling your next trades.
11.15 – 14.15 – Most breakouts occurring during this period are very inaccurate. Prices start moving sideways. Feel free to take a break. It’s best that you refrain from trading at this time.
14.10 – 15.25 – Most trends have already formed. There’s no sense in opening your trades now. But if you do, trade with the trend and be vigilant. Around 15:30, the trend may pause or even reverse.
15.20 -16.00 – The last 30 minutes of the day session, major market participants start adjusting their portfolios. It may seem that high volatility can bring you some good profits, we’d recommend staying on the safe side as the trading environment is too unpredictable now. Avoiding and managing risks is part of smart trading, remember?
All in all: The usual best trading time is 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. – it’s when trading hours of the New York and London exchanges overlap. These two trading hubs account for more than 50% of all Forex transactions.
When you SHOULD NOT trade
It’s funny how everyone is looking for the best time to trade. And few people think when it gets too risky to trade and when it’s better to avoid the market. It’s highly undesirable that you enter the market on:
- By the end of the week, we all get tired and tend to make illogical decisions. It can be hard to predict market behaviour at the end of the week. Friday is one of those days when the majority of traders suffer losses. Some traders lock in their profits to safely leave for the weekend. Others, on the contrary, jump into the market to make quick money. Prices start going up and down, especially in the afternoon, which can result in substantial losses.
- Banks are usually closed on holidays, market activity is low. On holidays, the risk of losing your deposit increases. You might be hoping for a spike in prices after the holidays, but the market likes to make adjustments. And they are usually not in your favour.
- News releases. We are going to offer you some obvious advice that no one takes anyway: do not trade the news. You can’t predict with 100% accuracy where the price will move after the release of significant news, a statement or a report. At this point, the price movement is often chaotic. So, we recommend exiting the market 1.5 hours before the publication. Refrain from trading for about the same amount of time after the news is released.
Summing up
While Forex is open around the clock, all traders are human beings who need their rest. That’s why it’s essential to know the trading sessions schedule and market hours that determine volatility peaks. Enter the market when it demonstrates a strong momentum. This way, you’ll be able to monitor price developments better and identify trading instruments with the highest profit potential.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, March 18, by 0.39 per cent due to continued sell-offs.
In what would be the final trading session of the week due to public holidays on Thursday and Friday for Eid-el-Fitr, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) further dipped by 16.14 points to 4,114.75 points from 4,130.89 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.66 billion to close at N2.461 trillion versus the previous day’s N2.471 trillion.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N10.32 to sell at N112.00 per share versus N122.32 per share, NASD Plc dropped N4.50 to finish at N41.50 per unit compared with the previous session’s N46.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 9 Kobo to N3.02 per share from N3.11 per share.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc improved by N2.23 to N24.57 per unit from N22.34 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc advanced by 90 Kobo to N76.33 per share from N75.43 per share, Food Concepts Plc rose by 24 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.06 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 20 Kobo to N2.18 per share from N1.98 per share, Impresit Bakalori Plc jumped 16 Kobo to N1.83 per unit from N1.67 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 14 Kobo to trade at N1.89 per share versus N1.75 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities went up by 43,404.4 per cent to 400.8 million units from 921,265 units, the value of securities grew by 2,108.7 per cent to N1.2 billion from N54.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 23.7 per cent to 47 deals from 38 deals.
CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 38.7 million units valued at N2.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units exchanged for N1.2 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
Resourcery Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, trailed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 131.1 million units valued at N505.6 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a pullback of 0.69 per cent as a result of profit-taking by investors, with shares in the banking and energy sectors mostly affected.
Data harvested by Business Post showed that the energy index was down by 4.58 per cent during the session, and the banking space lost 2.14 per cent.
They brought down the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,402.56 points to 201,156.85 points from 202,559.41 points and shrank the market capitalisation by N900 billion to N129.126 trillion from N130.026 trillion.
Customs Street ended in red at midweek despite three of the five key sectors finishing in green. The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.19 per cent, the industrial goods index improved by 0.46 per cent, and the insurance sector grew by 0.43 per cent.
Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N25.70, Aradel Holdings went down by 9.68 per cent to N1,210.30, Presco lost 9.30 per cent to trade at N1,701.10, Living Trust Mortgage Bank crashed by 8.40 per cent to N4.80, and DAAR Communications dropped 7.50 per cent to end at N1.85.
On the flip side, Secure Electronic Technology gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.32, Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N423.20, John Holt increased by 9.72 per cent to N11.85, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 9.57 per cent to N2.06, and Linkage Assurance chalked up 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.64.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the bourse registered 33 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Market participants bought and sold 6.1 billion stocks valued at N130.1 billion in 58,562 deals compared with the 1.8 billion stocks worth N88.1 billion traded in 62,654 deals on Tuesday, representing a shortfall in the number of deals by 6.53 per cent, and a spike in the trading volume and value by 238.89 per cent and 47.67 per cent apiece.
The most active equity on Wednesday was eTranzact with 5.2 billion units sold for N24.3 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 111.4 million units worth N3.1 billion, Coronation Insurance transacted 96.4 million units valued at N303.9 million, Dangote Cement traded 75.2 million units for N56.5 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 61.5 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira stumbled against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, March 18, by N8.96 or 0.67 per cent to trade at N1,353.00/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,344.04/$1.
Also, the local currency weakened against the Pound Sterling in the spot market at midweek by N6.06 to sell for N1,801.93/£1 compared with Tuesday’s value of N1,795.87/£1, and lost N4.75 against the Euro to quote at N1,556.22/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,551.46/€1.
However, the Nigerian currency gained N2 against the greenback yesterday at the GTBank forex desk to close at N1,363/$1 versus the N1,365/$1 it was exchanged for a day earlier, and traded flat in the parallel market at N1,395/$1.
Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $178 million over three consecutive international payments recorded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), settling at $49.83 billion from $50.008 billion, indicating that there have been some interventions in the FX market for stability and liquidity.
While the wider outlook for the Naira is positive, potential disruptions to global oil supply have increased volatility in energy markets and could spike inflation with higher oil prices.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped below $71,000 on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged rising oil prices amid the war in Iran as a new inflation risk. It sold at $70,538.58.
The US central bank held interest rates steady as expected, but during his post-meeting press conference, Mr Powell acknowledged that the recent surge in energy prices is already feeding into the central bank’s outlook.
He said rising oil prices “for sure showed up” in policymakers’ higher inflation outlook for this year, lifting their forecast to 2.7 per cent from 2.4 per cent.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) lost 6.3 per cent to trade at $2,178.56, Cardano (ADA) fell by 6.1 per cent to $0.2714, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 5.7 per cent to close at $0.0096, Solana (SOL) dipped 4.8 per cent to $89.83, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 3.8 per cent to $1.46, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 3.7 per cent to $648.61.
However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3037, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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