Forex volatility is not spread evenly across the day. On EUR/USD the busiest hour averages 27.7 pips of range while the quietest averages 8.1 — a 3.4× difference between trading the same pair at 14:00 UTC and 22:00 UTC. This page measures that curve across 10 instruments using 922,937 hourly bars.
Key takeaways
- 10 of 10 instruments record their widest average hourly range inside the 12:00–16:00 UTC London/New York overlap.
- EUR/USD averages 27.7 pips at 14:00 UTC versus 8.1 pips at 22:00 UTC.
- The peak-to-quiet ratio runs from 2.1× to 4.0× depending on the instrument — indices swing hardest.
- Every figure below is measured from 922,937 hourly Dukascopy bars, not estimated.
EUR/USD
EUR/USD range
measured
analysed
The hourly volatility heatmap
Each cell is the average high-minus-low range of that instrument's hourly candle, grouped by UTC hour over the full history available. Colour is scaled within each row, so you are reading the shape of each instrument's own day.
| Instrument | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 14 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 17 | 22 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 24 | 19 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| GBP/USD | 15 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 21 | 28 | 31 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 30 | 31 | 33 | 30 | 23 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
| USD/JPY | 22 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| AUD/USD | 17 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 19 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| USD/CAD | 12 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 24 | 27 | 29 | 26 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 9 |
| EUR/JPY | 25 | 23 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 23 | 30 | 30 | 26 | 23 | 23 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 28 | 22 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 17 |
| GBP/JPY | 30 | 28 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 30 | 38 | 41 | 36 | 32 | 32 | 37 | 39 | 42 | 37 | 29 | 25 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 453 | 589 | 428 | 347 | 308 | 429 | 484 | 523 | 514 | 464 | 452 | 498 | 746 | 882 | 880 | 748 | 583 | 515 | 498 | 453 | 359 | 262 | 335 | 357 |
| US30 (Dow) | 56 | 55 | 43 | 38 | 33 | 42 | 47 | 62 | 65 | 55 | 53 | 57 | 70 | 116 | 132 | 114 | 95 | 90 | 94 | 107 | 66 | 34 | 45 | 46 |
| US100 (Nasdaq) | 32 | 32 | 25 | 22 | 20 | 25 | 25 | 31 | 33 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 37 | 62 | 74 | 63 | 51 | 48 | 48 | 53 | 34 | 19 | 25 | 26 |
The pattern is remarkably consistent. Range builds from the Tokyo lull into the London open around 07:00 UTC, dips through the European lunch hour, then peaks when New York joins London between 12:00 and 16:00 UTC. It collapses after the New York close.
Volatility by trading session
Grouping those hours into the conventional sessions makes the ranking explicit. The highest figure in each row is highlighted.
| Instrument | Sydney & Tokyo 00–07 UTC | London 07–12 UTC | London/NY overlap 12–16 UTC | New York 16–21 UTC | Late NY 21–24 UTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 13.3 | 20.3 | 26.1 | 15.1 | 8.6 |
| GBP/USD | 15.8 | 27.2 | 31.0 | 17.9 | 11.3 |
| USD/JPY | 17.2 | 17.4 | 24.0 | 14.6 | 12.2 |
| AUD/USD | 15.0 | 15.4 | 19.9 | 12.6 | 10.2 |
| USD/CAD | 11.7 | 16.3 | 26.6 | 16.6 | 9.7 |
| EUR/JPY | 21.4 | 26.4 | 29.9 | 18.1 | 15.2 |
| GBP/JPY | 26.7 | 35.8 | 38.8 | 23.8 | 20.4 |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 445.1 | 490.5 | 813.9 | 481.5 | 318.0 |
| US30 (Dow) | 46.9 | 58.2 | 108.2 | 90.3 | 41.7 |
| US100 (Nasdaq) | 26.4 | 29.2 | 59.1 | 47.0 | 23.3 |
The London/New York overlap wins on every instrument measured. For a deeper explanation of why the sessions behave this way, see forex trading sessions and the best times to trade forex.
Peak and quiet hour by instrument
| Instrument | Peak hour UTC | Peak range | Quietest hour UTC | Quiet range | Peak ÷ quiet | H1 bars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 14:00 | 27.7 | 22:00 | 8.1 | 3.4× | 97,785 |
| GBP/USD | 14:00 | 32.8 | 04:00 | 10.6 | 3.1× | 97,788 |
| USD/JPY | 14:00 | 25.4 | 21:00 | 10.7 | 2.4× | 97,779 |
| AUD/USD | 14:00 | 21.7 | 21:00 | 9.7 | 2.2× | 97,805 |
| USD/CAD | 14:00 | 29.3 | 04:00 | 8.1 | 3.6× | 97,789 |
| EUR/JPY | 14:00 | 32.0 | 21:00 | 14.3 | 2.2× | 97,778 |
| GBP/JPY | 14:00 | 41.6 | 22:00 | 19.6 | 2.1× | 97,789 |
| Gold (XAU/USD) | 13:00 | 882.4 | 21:00 | 262.3 | 3.4× | 98,127 |
| US30 (Dow) | 14:00 | 132.4 | 04:00 | 32.9 | 4.0× | 70,156 |
| US100 (Nasdaq) | 14:00 | 74.1 | 21:00 | 19.1 | 3.9× | 70,141 |
Methodology
- Source: Dukascopy bid OHLC, as held in the FxBacktest historical archive and replayed by the simulator.
- Window: full available H1 history per instrument (EUR/USD: 2010-07-14 to 2026-07-27).
- Measure: for each hourly bar, range = high − low, converted to pips using the instrument's pip size; indices are quoted in index points.
- Aggregation: arithmetic mean of that range grouped by the UTC hour stamped on the bar.
- Exclusions: Saturday and Sunday bars, and any bar where high equals low (no ticks recorded — the market was effectively shut).
- Caveat: this measures the bid range only. It does not include spread, and spreads typically widen in exactly the quiet hours where range is thinnest.
- Updated: July 2026. The archive refreshes nightly; this page is rebuilt periodically from it.
What to do with this
The practical use is sizing and expectation setting. If your strategy places a 15-pip stop on EUR/USD, that stop is roughly two average bars wide at 22:00 UTC but barely half an average bar at 14:00 UTC — the same number means two completely different things. Before assuming a result carries across the day, test the hours separately: see where to place a stop loss and backtesting across market conditions.
Related: average daily range across 25 markets extends this from the hour to the full trading day.
Hourly forex volatility FAQ
What is the most volatile hour to trade forex?
Measured across 2010–2026, the widest average hourly range on EUR/USD is 14:00 UTC at 27.7 pips. 10 of the 10 instruments in this study peak inside the 12:00–16:00 UTC London/New York overlap, which is when both of the largest trading centres are open at once.
What is the quietest hour in the forex market?
On EUR/USD the quietest hour is 22:00 UTC, averaging just 8.1 pips of range — about 3.4 times narrower than the busiest hour. The hours either side of the daily rollover and the pre-Tokyo lull are consistently the thinnest across every pair measured.
How much does forex volatility change during the day?
A great deal. Across the 10 instruments measured here the busiest hour is between 2.1 and 4.0 times wider than the quietest hour. A stop or target sized for the London/New York overlap is a very different proposition at 22:00 UTC.
Where does this hourly volatility data come from?
It is calculated from 922,937 hourly bars of Dukascopy bid data held in the FxBacktest historical archive — the same price series the simulator replays. For each hourly bar we take the high minus the low, then average that range by UTC hour across the entire history. Weekend bars and zero-range bars (when the market was effectively shut) are excluded.
Should I only trade during the busiest hours?
Not necessarily. A wider average range means more opportunity but also faster adverse moves, and spreads and slippage behave differently across the day. What the data does say is that the same strategy is not facing the same market at 03:00 and 14:00 UTC, so it is worth backtesting your session separately rather than assuming one result applies to all hours.
Cite or republish this data
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