Short answer: the Tokyo session for gold conventionally runs from 09:00 to 18:00 Tokyo time, which is 00:00 to 09:00 UTC all year, because Japan does not use daylight saving. It overlaps the Sydney session at the start and hands over to London at the end. Per hour it is quieter than London or New York, but it is not dead: the Shanghai Gold Exchange opens at 10:00 Tokyo time, the yen reacts to Bank of Japan decisions, and the range built in these hours is the map London trades against.
Why Tokyo matters for gold
In Tokyo hours the big Asian participants are at their desks: Japanese banks and trading houses, the Osaka Exchange’s gold futures and, an hour later, the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Western bullion banks are mostly offline. For an XAUUSD trader that means:
- The day’s first proper range is built here, and London’s open tests it.
- Asian news lands here: Bank of Japan decisions and Japanese and Chinese data.
- The yen is a channel to the dollar, and gold trades against the dollar.
The Asian session playbook covers the whole night; this lesson zooms in on Tokyo’s own drivers.
Tokyo hours, in UTC and in your zone
Japan Standard Time (JST) is UTC+9 all year, so the Tokyo session never moves in UTC: 00:00 to 09:00 UTC. When New York, London or Sydney change their clocks, Tokyo hours shift in their local time.
| Location | Northern winter (US on standard time, UK on GMT) | Northern summer (US on daylight time, UK on BST) |
|---|---|---|
| UTC | 00:00–09:00 | 00:00–09:00 |
| New York | 19:00–04:00 | 20:00–05:00 |
| London | 00:00–09:00 GMT | 01:00–10:00 BST |
| Sydney | 11:00–20:00 AEDT | 10:00–19:00 AEST |
| India (IST) | 05:30–14:30 | 05:30–14:30 |
| Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai | 08:00–17:00 | 08:00–17:00 |
| Dubai (GST) | 04:00–13:00 | 04:00–13:00 |
The US returned to standard time on 1 November 2026, so the left-hand column applies now. Sydney changes its clocks the opposite way (AEDT from 4 October 2026 to 4 April 2027), so in October and late March its row does not match. Use the gold market hours tool to see today’s times in your own zone.
Overlaps at each end
- With Sydney: the conventional Sydney session (07:00–16:00 Sydney time) overlaps Tokyo for about five hours while Sydney is on AEDT (00:00–05:00 UTC) and six hours on AEST (00:00–06:00 UTC). See the Sydney session lesson.
- With London: London opens at 08:00 London time. In UK winter that leaves one hour of overlap (08:00–09:00 UTC, 17:00–18:00 Tokyo); during British Summer Time there are two (07:00–09:00 UTC, 16:00–18:00 Tokyo).
A Tokyo timeline for gold traders
| Tokyo (JST) | UTC | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 07:00 or 08:00 | 22:00 or 23:00 (previous day) | Spot gold has reopened after the daily break (18:00 New York); Sydney is already trading |
| 08:45 | 23:45 | Osaka Exchange gold futures day session opens |
| 08:50 | 23:50 | Many Bank of Japan releases, such as the Tankan survey, minutes and Summary of Opinions |
| 09:00 | 00:00 | Tokyo Stock Exchange opens; conventional Tokyo session starts |
| 09:30 or 10:30 | 00:30 or 01:30 | Australian Bureau of Statistics releases (11:30 Canberra time) |
| 10:00 | 01:00 | Shanghai Gold Exchange day session opens (09:00 Beijing) |
| 11:15 | 02:15 | Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price morning auction (10:15 Beijing) |
| 11:30–12:30 | 02:30–03:30 | Tokyo stock market lunch break |
| Around midday (BoJ days only) | Around 03:00 | BoJ policy statement, released when the meeting ends; no fixed time |
| 12:30 or 13:30 (RBA days only) | 03:30 or 04:30 | Reserve Bank of Australia decision (14:30 Sydney time) |
| 15:30 | 06:30 | Tokyo Stock Exchange closes |
| 15:45 | 06:45 | Osaka gold futures day session ends; night session reopens at 17:00 |
| 16:00 or 17:00 | 07:00 or 08:00 | London opens (08:00 London) |
| 18:00 | 09:00 | Conventional Tokyo session ends |
Where two times are given, the first applies when the relevant clock is on daylight time. The Tokyo Stock Exchange extended its afternoon session to 15:30 on 5 November 2024; it is no longer 15:00, as some older guides still say.
Japan’s place in the gold market
Japan is not the centre of the gold market the way London is, but it is a real one, and it trades gold in yen.
- Exchange futures. Osaka Exchange (OSE), part of Japan Exchange Group, lists Gold Standard Futures: physically delivered, 1 kg of at least 99.99% gold, priced in yen per gram. The contract dates back to 1982 on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange and moved to OSE on 27 July 2020. OSE also lists a 100 g Gold Mini, options and, since 13 April 2026, Pocket Gold 100 Futures.
- Two sessions. OSE gold trades 08:45–15:45 and 17:00–06:00 Tokyo time. The night session exists so Japanese traders can respond to European and US hours: much of the yen-gold price is set while Tokyo sleeps.
- Yen-priced gold. Japanese investors watch gold in yen per gram. That price is XAUUSD multiplied by USD/JPY and converted to grams, so it can rise even on a day XAUUSD falls, if the yen weakens enough. Our gold price in other currencies guide shows the arithmetic.
- Retail demand. Japanese households buy gold bars, coins and jewellery through dealers. The World Gold Council’s Goldhub tracks Japan’s bar, coin and jewellery demand country by country each quarter. Japan’s physical demand is much smaller than China’s or India’s, so it rarely drives XAUUSD on its own.
The practical takeaway: Japanese activity adds liquidity at the Tokyo open, but for XAUUSD the yen and the Bank of Japan are more likely to matter than Japanese gold demand.
The Shanghai open next door
An hour after Tokyo opens, China’s physical gold market starts its day, and in our data that hour is where Asian gold most often moves.
- Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) hours. The day session runs 09:00–15:30 Beijing time (01:00–07:30 UTC). A night session runs 20:00 to 02:30 the next morning (12:00–18:30 UTC), so Chinese traders are also active during the London afternoon and the New York morning. On a Monday, the night session that counts for that day starts on the Friday evening. There is no night session before a Chinese public holiday.
- The benchmark. The Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price is set by auction on a 1 kg, 99.99% contract quoted in yuan per gram. The morning auction is at 10:15 Beijing time (02:15 UTC). The afternoon auction is published at 14:15 Beijing time by market-data providers such as Kitco, while the SGE’s rules as amended in November 2019 list 15:00; the exchange says times can change by announcement, so check its notices before relying on either.
- The premium or discount. Gold in Shanghai is priced in yuan, and moving metal into China is not frictionless, so the Shanghai price converted to dollars per ounce can sit above London (a premium) or below it (a discount). A rising premium is read as a sign of strong Chinese demand; a discount as a sign that buyers are stepping back, often after a sharp rally. The World Gold Council publishes the premium in its China market updates.
On your chart, the 01:00 UTC hour is when SGE trading starts. A push at that time can start a move, but it is also a common place for a test of the overnight range edge that then stalls.
USD/JPY and the Bank of Japan
How the yen reaches gold
XAUUSD is priced in dollars. USD/JPY is one of the most traded currency pairs, so a sharp yen move can change the broad dollar for a few hours. In general:
- A stronger yen (USD/JPY falling) often comes with a softer dollar, which can support XAUUSD.
- A weaker yen (USD/JPY rising) often comes with a firmer dollar, which can weigh on XAUUSD.
The relationship is loose and can flip when both the yen and gold are being bought as havens, or when the US yield story dominates. Read the dollar first, and use our gold, the DXY and yields lesson for the bigger picture.
Bank of Japan decision days
- The BoJ holds eight Monetary Policy Meetings a year, each over two days. The 2026 dates were 22–23 January, 18–19 March, 27–28 April, 15–16 June, 30–31 July, 17–18 September, 29–30 October and 17–18 December.
- The policy statement has no fixed release time. It is published when the meeting ends on the second day, often around midday in Tokyo (about 03:00 UTC). The Governor’s press conference follows in the afternoon, Tokyo time.
- The January, April, July and October meetings also bring the quarterly Outlook Report, with the BoJ’s growth and inflation forecasts.
- The minutes and the Summary of Opinions are released later, at 08:50 Tokyo time.
At its 29–30 October 2026 meeting the BoJ held its policy rate at 1.25%. Our BoJ decision analysis covers that meeting, and how ECB and BoJ decisions move gold explains the general mechanism.
Japanese data in the window
Many Japanese releases come out at 08:50 Tokyo time, including the BoJ’s quarterly Tankan survey. They matter for gold mainly when they shift BoJ expectations, and therefore the yen. On Japanese public holidays the stock market is closed and the session is thinner, though OSE offers holiday trading.
How gold behaves in Tokyo hours
Most guides call the Asian session “quiet”. Our own data lets us be more precise. The when does gold move most tool uses COMEX gold futures hourly bars (via Yahoo Finance) from 30 October 2024 to 30 October 2026, about 480 trading days:
| Session (definition) | Average full range | As % of price | Average range per hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo (09:00–18:00 Tokyo, 00:00–09:00 UTC) | $51.61 | 1.29% | $16.47 |
| London (08:00–17:00 London time) | $60.36 | 1.52% | $20.01 |
| New York (08:00–17:00 New York time) | $59.11 | 1.49% | $19.22 |
| London–New York overlap hours | $50.26 | 1.27% | $24.84 |
And hour by hour inside the Tokyo window:
| UTC | Tokyo | Average range | What sits in that hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00–01:00 | 09:00–10:00 | $17.63 | Tokyo open |
| 01:00–02:00 | 10:00–11:00 | $22.96 | Shanghai Gold Exchange opens; busiest Asian hour |
| 02:00–03:00 | 11:00–12:00 | $17.48 | Shanghai morning auction at 02:15 |
| 03:00–04:00 | 12:00–13:00 | $13.38 | Tokyo lunch; BoJ statements often land around here |
| 04:00–05:00 | 13:00–14:00 | $10.92 | Quietest hour of the Asian day |
| 05:00–06:00 | 14:00–15:00 | $16.65 | Afternoon pick-up |
| 06:00–07:00 | 15:00–16:00 | $16.29 | Tokyo close approaches |
| 07:00–08:00 | 16:00–17:00 | $16.10 | European pre-open (London open in BST) |
| 08:00–09:00 | 17:00–18:00 | $16.84 | London open in UK winter |
What this tells you:
- Per hour, Tokyo is quieter, about 18% below London’s hourly average and about a third below the overlap.
- But the session is long. Nine hours of smaller moves add up to an average range of about 85% of London’s, roughly $52 in this sample. Plan stops for that, not for the “dead market” Tokyo is often said to be.
- The Shanghai open is the Asian hotspot. In the six months from 1 May 2026, the 01:00 UTC hour averaged about $25.5, close to some overlap hours.
- The early afternoon is a lull. The 04:00 UTC hour was the quietest of the whole Asian day.
Honest caveats: these are futures, not spot XAUUSD, so your broker’s numbers will differ slightly. Averages hide wide variation, and session windows overlap at the edges. Hourly ranges cannot be added up to a daily range. Use the figures to compare hours, and size each trade from a current measure such as ATR.
Three kinds of Tokyo night
Many nights are range nights: gold rotates, tests one edge after the Shanghai open and settles in the afternoon lull. Some are continuation nights, grinding on after a strong US close (the Asian session playbook has a setup for those). A few are news nights, when a BoJ surprise, Chinese data or a regional headline makes gold trend for hours and range fades become dangerous.
A pre-session routine
- Read the US close. Did New York trend or chop, and where did gold close in its day range?
- Check the Asian calendar. BoJ meeting days, Japanese data at 08:50 JST, Australian releases and the RBA, Chinese data, and public holidays in Japan or China. The gold market events page lists major items.
- Mark levels. Previous day’s high, low and close; the reopen price; nearby round numbers; H4 support and resistance.
- Check the yen. Note USD/JPY’s overnight range and any official comments on the currency.
- Decide by 01:30 UTC. After the first Shanghai hour, label the night: range, continuation or news-driven. If you can’t tell, don’t trade.
- Set a cut-off. Most Tokyo traders stop opening positions before the European pre-open.
Three setups and a stand-aside rule
These are educational templates, not trade recommendations.
Setup 1: Map the Tokyo range for London
This is a preparation routine, not a trade. It is the most valuable thing most traders can do in Tokyo hours.
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| Window | Fix it, for example 00:00–06:00 UTC, and never change it mid-week |
| Levels | Range high, low and midpoint; previous day’s high and low; nearest round number |
| Width filter | Compare the range with recent sessions on the volatility tool; unusually wide ranges leave less room for London |
| Liquidity read | Note which side has equal highs or lows, or the previous day’s extreme just beyond it |
| Output | Two written London scenarios: breakout and sweep-and-reverse, each with an invalidation |
| Hand-off | Use the London session lesson to trade them |
Setup 2: Fade the Shanghai-open push
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| Context | Range mode: the US session was indecisive and no Asian event is due in the next two hours |
| Trigger | Between about 01:00 and 02:30 UTC, price pushes beyond the range built since the reopen and an M15 candle closes back inside |
| Entry | On the close of that candle, or a limit just inside the edge |
| Stop (invalidation) | Beyond the push extreme plus a spread buffer |
| Targets | The range midpoint first (take at least half), then the opposite edge |
| Management | Close by about 06:00 UTC; the range belongs to London after that |
Setup 3: Early-Asia news reaction
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| Context | A scheduled event in the window: BoJ statement, Japanese data with a BoJ angle, an RBA decision or major Chinese data |
| Trigger | No entry for 15–30 minutes. Then wait for a clear structure: a higher low after an up-spike, or a lower high after a down-spike |
| Entry | On a retest of the broken short-term level |
| Stop (invalidation) | Beyond the post-news swing |
| Targets | The spike extreme first; the next H1 level second |
| Management | Size down. Check that USD/JPY or AUD/USD agree with the move; if the currency reverses, reconsider |
When to stand aside
| Condition | Why |
|---|---|
| The first 30 minutes after the reopen | Spreads are often wide and prices jump |
| Japanese or Chinese public holiday | Thinner liquidity, fewer reference points |
| BoJ meeting day before the statement | A fixed-time plan cannot work when the release time isn’t fixed |
| The 04:00 UTC lull with no setup | Small ranges plus normal spreads leave little reward |
| After a news-driven trend has started | Fading a trend that has a reason is the costliest Tokyo mistake |
| After a full night awake | Fatigue makes late trades worse; plan London instead |
Worked example (hypothetical)
Preparation (23:30 UTC). A trader in Singapore sits down at 07:30 local time. No BoJ or RBA decision is due; Japanese data at 08:50 JST is minor. The US session closed mid-range. The previous day’s high is 4,019.
The range. From the reopen to 01:00 UTC, gold trades from 3,999.50 to 4,010.50. Midpoint 4,005.
The push. At 01:20 UTC price reaches 4,012.60 and the M15 candle closes at 4,008.20. USD/JPY is flat, so there is no currency driver behind the push.
Plan. - Entry: short at 4,008.20. - Stop: above the push high plus $1.50, at 4,014.10. Stop distance = $5.90. - Target 1: midpoint 4,005.00 (+$3.20, about 0.5R), half the position. - Target 2: just above the range low at 4,000.00 (+$8.20, about 1.4R).
Position size. Account $10,000, risk 0.5% = $50. One lot is 100 oz, so one lot would lose $590 at the stop. Size = $50 ÷ $590 = 0.085 lots, rounded down to 0.08. Check: 0.08 × $5.90 × 100 = $47.20 at risk.
Management. If target 1 fills, the stop moves to entry. If target 2 has not filled by 06:00 UTC, the trader closes the rest; the range now belongs to London. Before closing the platform, the trader writes the London scenarios for this range.
All prices are hypothetical and show the planning sequence, not an expected result.
Risk, spreads and liquidity
- Spreads. Spreads at many brokers are widest around the daily break and in the first minutes after the reopen, and are usually tighter once Tokyo and Shanghai are active. Check yours at 23:00, 01:00 and 04:00 UTC for a week. Our spread widening at rollover guide explains why.
- Small targets, same costs. A $3 first target with a $0.40 spread loses more than 10% of the reward to costs. Run the numbers in the position size calculator.
- Thin books, sudden jumps. A headline at 03:00 UTC hits a thinner market than one at 14:00 UTC, so slippage can be larger relative to the move.
- Event days. BoJ, RBA and major Chinese releases deserve half size or no position.
Lower average volatility does not mean lower risk. A thin Asian market can gap through a stop on a headline, and spreads at the session’s edges can be several times their London level. Leveraged trading carries a high risk of loss.
Combining it with other concepts
- Sessions before and after: Sydney opens the week; London tests the Tokyo range; New York brings US data.
- Range models: the Asian range breakout, Power of 3 and the Asian kill zone in ICT kill zones all start from the range Tokyo builds.
- Fades: mean reversion on gold explains why midpoint targets are the reliable ones.
Best timeframes and sessions
Use the daily and H4 charts for context, H1 for levels, and M15 for triggers; drop to M5 only if your spread is small relative to the stop. The main window for Setup 2 is 01:00–03:00 UTC. Mostly manage positions through the 03:00–05:00 UTC lull, and hand over to a London plan from about 06:00 UTC.
Common mistakes and limitations
- Trading Tokyo like London. Expect a smaller range per hour and set targets inside the range.
- Ignoring China. The Shanghai open is the most active hour of the Asian day in our data.
- Forgetting that BoJ times float. Nobody can tell you the exact minute the statement will land.
- Treating the yen as a signal. USD/JPY is context. Gold and the yen sometimes move together as havens.
- Wrong times after clock changes. Tokyo never changes, but your local view of it does.
Honest caveats: there is no verified universal figure for how often London breaks the Tokyo range, or how often the Shanghai-open push fails. Our averages describe two years of one futures contract and will drift. Test any rule on your own data with backtesting before trusting it.
Pro tips
- Write the range down at 06:00 UTC. High, low, midpoint, width, and which side is more obvious.
- Watch the first Shanghai hour, then decide. It usually tells you more than the Tokyo open.
- Compare gold with silver. Treat a gold push that silver doesn’t follow with suspicion.
- Use the quiet hour to review. The 04:00 UTC lull is a good time to journal, not to force a trade.
Quick checklist
- Have I read the US close and the previous day’s levels?
- Is there a BoJ, RBA, Japanese, Chinese or holiday event in tonight’s window?
- Have I marked the reopen range and updated it after 01:00 UTC?
- Do I know where USD/JPY is and whether it is moving?
- Range, continuation or news night, decided by about 01:30 UTC?
- Does the range cover at least three times my round-trip cost?
- Is my stop beyond the push extreme plus a buffer, and my size calculated from it?
- Will I be flat, or deliberately positioned, before London?
- Have I written the two London scenarios for this range?
Sources
- Japan Exchange Group: Gold Standard Futures contract specifications (1 kg, yen per gram, 08:45–15:45 and 17:00–06:00 sessions, transfer from TOCOM on 27 July 2020)
- Japan Exchange Group: Precious metals products (Pocket Gold 100 from 13 April 2026; rolling-spot futures last trading day 22 December 2026)
- Japan Exchange Group: extension of TSE trading hours to 15:30 from 5 November 2024
- Shanghai Gold Exchange: trading products and hours (day and night sessions)
- Shanghai Gold Exchange: Detailed Rules on Benchmark Price Trading, amended November 2019 (PDF) (contract, yuan per gram, auction schedule)
- Kitco: Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price (auctions at 10:15 and 14:15 Beijing time)
- Bank of Japan: Monetary Policy Meetings schedule (2026 dates; release times for minutes and Summary of Opinions)
- Bank of Japan: release schedule (08:50 releases)
- Reserve Bank of Australia: 2026 Monetary Policy Board meeting dates (decision at 2.30 pm Sydney time)
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: release policy (11.30 am Canberra time)
- World Gold Council: Goldhub (demand by country, China market updates)
- CME Group: Gold futures overview (trading hours)
- Session and hourly ranges: COMEX gold futures (GC=F) 1-hour bars via Yahoo Finance, 30 October 2024 to 30 October 2026, as used by our when does gold move most tool
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.
Frequently asked questions
What time is the Tokyo session for gold?
Conventionally 09:00 to 18:00 Tokyo time, which is 00:00 to 09:00 UTC all year, because Japan does not use daylight saving time. In New York that is 19:00 to 04:00 while the US is on standard time and 20:00 to 05:00 in US summer. In India it is 05:30 to 14:30 IST. The gold market hours tool shows the session in your own zone.
Is gold quieter in the Tokyo session?
Per hour, yes. In our two years of hourly COMEX gold futures data to 30 October 2026, Tokyo hours averaged a $16.47 range per hour against $20.01 for London and $24.84 for the London–New York overlap. But the session is long, so its average full range ($51.61) was not far below London’s ($60.36). Quieter does not mean flat.
Why does gold often move around 10:00 Tokyo time?
That is 09:00 in Shanghai, when the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s day session opens. In our data the 01:00–02:00 UTC hour was the busiest of the Asian day, with an average range of about $23. Treat it as a time to be alert rather than a signal: the move can go either way and often stalls.
Does the Bank of Japan move gold?
It can, mostly through the dollar. A BoJ surprise moves USD/JPY, which can shift the broad dollar and with it XAUUSD. The statement has no fixed release time; it is published when the two-day meeting ends, often around midday in Tokyo. The remaining 2026 meeting is on 17–18 December.
Does Japan have a gold futures market?
Yes. Osaka Exchange, part of Japan Exchange Group, lists Gold Standard Futures (1 kg, priced in yen per gram) plus smaller contracts. Its day session runs 08:45–15:45 and its night session 17:00–06:00 Tokyo time. These are yen-priced futures, not XAUUSD, but their activity is part of the Asian liquidity you trade in.
What is the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price?
A yuan-per-gram benchmark for 1 kg gold set by auction on the Shanghai Gold Exchange. The morning auction is at 10:15 Beijing time (02:15 UTC). The afternoon auction is widely published at 14:15 Beijing time (06:15 UTC), though the exchange’s 2019 rules list 15:00; check the exchange’s current notices.
Should I trade breakouts during the Tokyo session?
Usually not as a default. Breakouts inside Asian hours tend to be smaller and less reliable than the London tests of the Asian range. Many session traders use Tokyo to build a map and trade, if at all, small fades at the range edges with modest targets.
When does the Tokyo session overlap with London?
London opens at 08:00 London time. In UK winter that is 08:00 UTC, so the overlap with the conventional Tokyo window is one hour (08:00–09:00 UTC, 17:00–18:00 Tokyo). In British Summer Time it is 07:00 UTC, so the overlap is two hours (16:00–18:00 Tokyo).
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