Timeframes and Trading Sessions
M1 to D1 — what each timeframe is for, and why FX trades 24/5.
Written and reviewed by the Fundezy team · how we produce this
The same market looks completely different depending on how you aggregate it. A timeframe is simply how much time one bar represents. The Fundezy charts offer M1, M5, M15, H1 and D1 — one minute, five, fifteen, one hour, and one day per bar.
What each timeframe is for
- M1 / M5 — scalping and order-flow practice. Very noisy; costs (spread relative to target) bite hardest here.
- M15 — the sweet spot for many beginners' practice: enough signals to learn quickly, slow enough that a trade isn't over in seconds.
- H1 — intraday swing trading; two or three quality setups a day per pair.
- D1 — position trading; one bar a day means decisions, not reactions.
Longer timeframes compress noise. A "trend" on M1 can be a single pullback bar on H1. When in doubt, zoom out: the D1 chart is where big participants operate.
Multiple timeframe habit
A disciplined pattern: pick your trading timeframe (where you enter), then check two levels up for context. M15 entries inside an H1 trend, H1 entries inside a D1 trend. Counter-trend trades on your entry timeframe are the ones that hurt.
The 24/5 week
Forex opens Sunday ~5pm New York and runs continuously to Friday ~5pm New York, passing through three major sessions:
| Session | Rough window (GMT) | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Asia (Tokyo) | 00:00–09:00 | Quieter, ranges; JPY/AUD/NZD most active |
| London | 08:00–17:00 | Highest volume; European trend initiation |
| New York | 13:00–22:00 | Deep liquidity; EUR/USD spread tightest; big reversals at the London close |
The London/New York overlap (13:00–17:00 GMT) is the single most liquid window in FX. Session edges — the London open, the New York open — routinely produce the day's largest moves.
Why this matters for learning
Practicing at a fixed time of day means you internalize one session's rhythm instead of four. And when you run backtests later (Course 06), remember the simulated data has a real timestamp: a strategy that only trades during the London open will look different from one trading round the clock.
By the numbers
Session liquidity has hard numbers: the United Kingdom accounted for 38% of global FX turnover and the United States 19% in the BIS 2022 survey, with Singapore (9%) and Hong Kong (7%) next. The London/New York overlap (13:00–17:00 GMT) therefore combines the two largest centres — and the market itself runs about 24 hours, 5 days a week, from Sunday to Friday evening New York time.
Practice in the simulator
Switch the chart through M15 → H1 → D1 — apply what you just read with simulated money.
Check your understanding
4 questions · answer all, then submit.