The short answer
Gold’s daily candle usually closes at 5:00 pm New York time, when the market pauses for its daily break; trading resumes at 6:00 pm. Most MT4 and MT5 servers are set to UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 during US daylight time, so that midnight server time = 5 pm New York and each daily candle covers one full gold session.
Charts on another clock, such as midnight UTC, split the day elsewhere. That is why daily highs, lows and closes can differ between platforms, and why some charts show a small Sunday candle.
Where 5 pm New York comes from
Gold futures on CME Globex trade from Sunday to Friday, 6:00 pm to 5:00 pm New York time, with a 60-minute break each day from 5:00 pm. Spot gold quoted by most providers follows the same rhythm, with spreads widening around the break. That gives a natural end to each gold “day” at 5 pm New York, often called the New York close.
The gold market hours tool shows the break and the sessions in your own time zone.
How MT4 and MT5 decide your daily candle
MetaTrader draws candles in the trading server’s time zone, set by your provider, not in your local time. MetaQuotes’ help notes that the quote time in Market Watch is given in the server’s time zone.
| Server clock | When the daily candle closes | Daily candles per week | Sunday candle? |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTC+2 winter / UTC+3 summer (common) | 5 pm New York | 5 | No |
| UTC+0 | 7 pm New York in winter, 8 pm in summer | 6 | Yes, a short one |
| Other offsets | Midnight on that server’s clock | 5 or 6 | Depends |
Why the UTC+2/UTC+3 convention works: in winter New York is UTC−5, so 5 pm New York is 22:00 UTC, which is 00:00 at UTC+2. In summer New York is UTC−4, so 5 pm New York is 21:00 UTC, which is 00:00 at UTC+3.
How to find your server time
- Open Market Watch (Ctrl+M). The time shown with the quotes is the last quote time in server time.
- Compare it with the current UTC time. The difference is your server’s offset.
- Check that the offset changes when US clocks change. If it does, your server follows the New York close.
- EA users can read it in code with TimeTradeServer() in MQL5 and compare it with TimeGMT().
Why daily candles differ between platforms
Gold opens Monday at $4,000 and drifts to $4,020 by 5 pm New York. After the daily break, in the first hour of trading, it falls to $3,995.
- Chart ending the day at 5 pm New York (UTC+2 server): Monday’s candle closes at $4,020. The fall to $3,995 belongs to Tuesday’s candle.
- Chart ending the day at midnight UTC (7 pm New York in winter): Monday’s candle includes the fall, with a low of $3,995 and a close near it.
Same prices, two different Monday candles: one closes up $20, the other down $5. Any rule based on “yesterday’s high and low” or a daily close will give different signals on the two charts.
A second, smaller difference comes from the price feed: the provider’s own prices, a spot index or futures prices. See why gold prices differ between brokers and TradingView.
The Sunday candle
Gold reopens at 6 pm New York on Sunday. On a chart whose day starts at midnight UTC, the hours from the reopen to midnight UTC form a separate Sunday candle, a few hours long. That small candle distorts indicators that count days (a 20-day moving average includes it as a full day) and can create apparent gaps.
On a UTC+2/UTC+3 server, Sunday’s 6 pm New York reopen is 01:00 on Monday server time, so it belongs to Monday’s candle. See also does gold trade on weekends and the Monday gap.
TradingView and cTrader
- TradingView builds daily bars from the symbol’s own session, which is set by the data provider for that symbol. Changing the chart’s time zone (bottom-right clock) relabels the times on intraday charts; whether it moves the daily split depends on the symbol. Test it: note the daily OHLC, switch time zone, and see if they change. If you trade on MT4 or MT5, compare TradingView’s daily bars with your platform’s rather than assuming they match. Our TradingView gold chart setup covers time zone settings.
- cTrader lets you choose the platform’s time zone in its settings. Check whether your daily candles follow it, and set it to match the clock you use for analysis; see how to trade gold on cTrader.
When the clocks change
The New York close stays at 5 pm New York time, but it moves by an hour against UTC and many local times when US clocks change. In 2026, US clocks went back on 1 November, a week after Europe’s change on 25 October, so for that week the gap between New York and European times was an hour shorter than usual. Our article on the US clock change and gold trading times covers the effect.
Servers that follow the New York close change their offset at the same moment. If your provider’s server does not, your daily candle close will drift by an hour against New York for part of the year.
Holidays
On US holidays the gold market often has shortened hours or an early close, and providers publish their own holiday schedules. The Sessions section at the bottom of a symbol’s Specification in MT5 shows the regular hours per weekday in server time; holiday changes usually come by provider notice. A shortened day creates a short daily candle, which can skew averages the same way a Sunday candle does.
How to make two charts agree
- Find each platform’s day boundary: server time on MT4/MT5, the symbol session on TradingView, the platform time zone on cTrader.
- Use the same feed where possible, or accept small price differences.
- Pick one chart as the reference for daily levels, normally the platform you trade on.
- Draw daily levels from that chart only, and copy the price levels, not the candle shapes, to the other platform.
- Check after every clock change that the boundaries still match.
Sources
- CME Group: Gold futures contract specifications (CME Globex hours: Sunday–Friday 6:00 pm–5:00 pm ET with a 60-minute break each day beginning at 5:00 pm ET)
- MetaQuotes, MT5 help: Market Watch (quote time in the server’s time zone; trading sessions in the Specification)
- MetaQuotes, MQL5 documentation: TimeTradeServer
- The UTC+2/UTC+3 server convention is common among providers but not universal; check your own server
- Prices in the example are hypothetical
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.
Frequently asked questions
What time does the gold daily candle close?
On most MT4 and MT5 servers, at 5 pm New York time, the start of gold’s daily break. Many providers set their server clock to UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 when the US is on daylight time, so that midnight server time equals 5 pm in New York. Charts on other clocks close the daily candle at their own midnight.
Why is my daily candle different on TradingView and MT5?
Because the two charts may split the day at different times and use different price feeds. If one platform ends the day at 5 pm New York and another at midnight UTC, the daily open, high, low and close will differ even with identical prices. Feed differences add small price gaps on top.
Why do I see a Sunday candle on gold?
Gold reopens at 6 pm New York time on Sunday. On a chart whose day starts at midnight UTC, those first few hours fall on Sunday and form a small separate candle. On servers set so that the day starts at 5 pm New York, Sunday’s opening hours belong to Monday’s candle and there are five daily candles a week.
How do I find my MT5 server time?
Look at the time shown in Market Watch next to the quotes: MetaQuotes’ help says it is the last quote time in the trading server’s time zone. Compare it with UTC to find the offset. EAs can read it with TimeTradeServer() in MQL5.
Does the daily candle time change when the clocks change?
The New York close stays at 5 pm New York time, but its time in UTC and in your local zone moves by an hour when US clocks change. Servers that follow the New York close shift their offset at the same time. In weeks when the US and Europe change clocks on different dates, times in Europe and elsewhere move for a week or a few weeks.
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