Strategies School / ICT / Smart Money Concepts
Sessions and Kill Zones
Beginner ยท 6 min read
Know when the market tends to move. Trade during the high-activity windows and avoid the dead hours.
What it is
Forex and indices move differently across the day. Activity is usually highest around the London and New York opens.
Kill zones are commonly cited windows (in New York time): Asian range 20:00 to 00:00, London open 02:00 to 05:00, New York open 07:00 to 10:00, and London close 10:00 to 12:00.
The Asian range often forms a tight range whose highs and lows become liquidity targets during London. This is a tendency, not a rule.
How to spot it
- Convert the windows to your own time zone and add them to your calendar.
- Mark the Asian high and low before London opens.
- Watch for a sweep of one side during London or New York.
- Avoid forcing trades outside the windows.
Trade plan
- Entry: During a kill zone, after a sweep and confirmation (see the entry model lesson).
- Stop loss: Beyond the sweep wick or the range extreme.
- Target: The opposite side of the Asian range or the next daily level.
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Trading all day because the market is open. Right: Pick one or two windows and master them.
- Wrong: Ignoring daylight saving changes. Right: Re-check times when clocks change, since London and New York change on different dates.
Pro tip: High-impact news (NFP, CPI, rate decisions) can ignore all patterns. Check the economic calendar before trading.
Quiz
- Which window is commonly called the New York open kill zone (NY time)? Answer: 07:00 to 10:00. About 07:00 to 10:00 New York time.
- The Asian range is often used as: Answer: A source of liquidity levels for London. Its high and low often become liquidity targets.
- Why recheck session times twice a year? Answer: Daylight saving changes shift times on different dates. US and UK change clocks on different dates.
Educational content, not financial advice. Diagrams are illustrations, not real market data.