CurrenlyzerAsian Session Forex: Which Pairs Move and Which Sleep
In the Asian session (about 00:00 to 09:00 UTC) the yen, Australian and New Zealand dollar pairs are the most active. The euro and sterling pairs are usually at their quietest in these hours.
The Asian session is often described as quiet. That is true for the euro and sterling, but not for every pair. This article measures the average hourly range of the major pairs in the Tokyo hours and shows which of them are active when Europe is asleep.
Pairs ranked inside the Tokyo session
| # | Pair | Average hour | % of price | Share of the day | Against a normal hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AUD/JPY | 19.0 pips | 0.17% | 48% | 1.16 times |
| 2 | NZD/USD | 8.56 pips | 0.15% | 43% | 1.04 times |
| 3 | USD/JPY | 22.2 pips | 0.14% | 46% | 1.12 times |
| 4 | EUR/JPY | 24.7 pips | 0.14% | 48% | 1.15 times |
| 5 | GBP/JPY | 28.3 pips | 0.14% | 47% | 1.13 times |
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For 7 of the 12 pairs the average hour inside the Tokyo session is busier than the pair’s average hour of the whole day.
Inside the Tokyo session the average hourly range of AUD/JPY is 19.0 pips (0.17% of price), the largest of the twelve pairs. The smallest belongs to EUR/GBP (0.05%). "Against a normal hour" divides the session’s average hour by the pair’s average hour over the whole day: 1.00 means the session hour is as busy as an average hour.
How to read the table
"Average hour" is the average range of one hourly candle inside the session, in pips or points. "% of price" is the same range divided by the price, which is what lets different pairs be compared. "Share of the day" is the part of the whole day’s hourly movement that falls inside the session hours. "Against a normal hour" compares a session hour with the average hour of the same pair over the whole day.
What to do with it
If you trade one session, use the table to choose pairs that actually move in it. If you trade all day, use it to see where a pair does most of its work. A pair with a small share in your session is a pair that waits for another one. The dashboard shows the same measurement hour by hour for each weekday.
How to check this in Currenlyzer
- Open the scanner. It lists every symbol with its reading for the current hour: Busy, Normal or Quiet.
- Sort by the busiest now or by the usual range, and filter by currency.
- Click a symbol to open its analyzer, where the hours of every weekday and the number of days counted are shown.
How we count
The numbers come from the live price feed of Currenlyzer: one-minute prices are built into hourly and daily candles, all in UTC. The range of a candle is its high minus its low. We use finished candles only, and we leave out hours when the market is closed and days that are too thin to count (the first hours of the Sunday open, short holiday days), so a closed hour is never averaged in as zero. Averages cover the last 30 days for the daily range and the last 60 days for hours, unless the text says otherwise. Pips follow the dashboard: one pip is 0.0001 on most pairs, 0.01 on yen pairs and 0.10 on gold. The same method is used in the dashboard.
Frequently asked questions
Which pairs are best in the Asian session?
Pairs that include the yen, the Australian dollar or the New Zealand dollar usually show the most movement. The table ranks the major pairs by their hourly range in the Tokyo hours.
Is the Asian session worth trading?
That is a personal decision. The numbers show how much each pair moves, and range is what most strategies need, so a pair with a larger Asian range is easier to follow than one that barely moves.
When does the Asian session start and end?
In Currenlyzer the Tokyo session covers the hourly candles from 00:00 to 09:59 UTC.
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Historical statistics for information only. This is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell. Past patterns do not predict future moves. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss. Read the full disclaimer.