In exchange-based trading, the term European session or European trading session refers to the trading period defined by the trading hours of European and African exchanges. This session runs from around 7:00 AM GMT until around 4:00 PM GMT.
Together with the Asian session and the North American session, the European session makes up the three trading sessions which compose a full trading day.
The European session opens at around 7:00 AM GMT – 7 hours after the opening of the Asian session at around 11:00 PM GMT (on the previous day) and around 7.5 hours ahead of the North American session which opens at 1:30 PM or 2:30 PM GMT (depending on the season).
It is overlapped by the Asian session which closes at around 8:00 AM GMT by 1 hour, and overlaps the North American session which opens at 1:30 PM GMT (summer) or 2:30 PM GMT (winter) by around 2.5 hours.
in forex trading, the European session is often referred to as the London session, due to the importance of London exchanges in forex trading.
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