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We recently came across an important news item regarding Australian forex market opening:
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There has been much discussion over the past eighteen months of a proposed change to the Monday morning foreign exchange opening hours in Australia, which constitutes the start of "normal market conditions" for the global foreign exchange market.
The discussion has focussed upon a proposed change from the current market opening at 5 am Sydney time, to a revised time one hour later. On the 10th of August, 2006, the Australian Foreign Exchange Committee (AFXC) reaffirmed its view that a change was desirable; however, it also felt that the previously targeted date for that change of the 25th September 2006 was unrealistic.
The principal reason for this delay is the need for market participants to have more time to assess the impact of the change on existing global documentation, with specific interest in the wording surrounding barrier options. The postponement of any change will give the AFXC time to consult further with all interested parties with a view to resolving any outstanding problems around this issue.
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Our comment:
5 AM Sydney time translates to 0030, Indian Standard Time, or half an hour after midnight. A change in market opening to 0600 Sydney, would translate to 0130 IST.
You can also take a look at a very interesting chart, which shows the level of forex market activity at different parts of a 24-hour day. Please click on http://www.page88.co.za/cr/fxrhythms.shtml
Observe that the busiest part of the market, from 0100 GMT (10AM Tokyo) to 1800 GMT (afternoon in America) corresponds to 0630-2330 in IST (Indian Standard Time). This implies that the major part of the global forex market corresponds to Indian waking hours, making India the sanest place to trade forex from.
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