The forex market is the global financial market for buying and selling currencies or forex trading.
The vast majority of currency transactions are conducted on so-called OTC (over-the-counter) markets. Unlike, for example, the trading of stocks on the NYSE, trading currencies on an OTC market is not overseen by a centralized exchange.
Instead, banks act as market makers – offering a bid price to buy, and an ask price to sell a particular currency pair.
When is the market open?
The forex market is open continuously from 11:00 PM Sunday until 11:00 PM Friday, London time, in different parts of the world. The highest trading activity within each day is when the London and New York markets are both open. As there are multiple markets around the globe with overlapping trading hours, forex market hours are almost nonstop, which might be appealing for some traders.
