Exness Trading Hours — Spread and Movement by Hour · South Africa
How the measured spread and the average hourly movement change through the trading day on Exness’s MetaTrader 5 feed — measured 11 Aug · 09:52 SAST. Hours are platform server time.
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A trading hour is attractive when the market moves a lot relative to what entering costs. The last column divides the average hourly movement by the average spread in that hour — more movement per pip of spread means the hour is cheaper to trade relative to its opportunity, before strategy and news are considered.
EUR/USD hour by hour (measured)
| Hour (server) | Avg spread (pips) | Avg movement (pips) | Movement per pip of spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 0.8 | 8.3 | 10× |
| 01:00 | 0.8 | 8.3 | 10× |
| 02:00 | 0.8 | 6.7 | 8× |
| 03:00 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 7× |
| 04:00 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 6× |
| 05:00 | 0.8 | 5.7 | 7× |
| 06:00 | 0.8 | 8.9 | 11× |
| 07:00 | 0.8 | 10.5 | 13× |
| 08:00 | 0.8 | 10.1 | 13× |
| 09:00 | 0.8 | 10.3 | 13× |
| 10:00 | 0.8 | 6.5 | 8× |
| 11:00 | 0.8 | 11.5 | 14× |
| 12:00 | 0.8 | 16.7 | 21× |
| 13:00 | 0.8 | 18.7 | 23× |
| 14:00 | 0.8 | 18.1 | 23× |
| 15:00 | 0.8 | 14.2 | 18× |
| 16:00 | 0.8 | 8.2 | 10× |
| 17:00 | 0.8 | 9.5 | 12× |
| 18:00 | 0.8 | 8.2 | 10× |
| 19:00 | 0.8 | 6.6 | 8× |
| 20:00 | 3.193 | 7.1 | 2× |
| 21:00 | 1.235 | 4.7 | 4× |
| 22:00 | 0.8 | 5.1 | 6× |
| 23:00 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 6× |
Spread = average of all quotes captured in that hour over the last 24h; movement = average high–low of that hour over the last 7 sessions. Hours are MT5 server time.
All instruments — where spreads tighten and widen
| Instrument | Tightest avg spread | Widest avg spread | Biggest hourly movement | Movement-per-cost peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.8 at 07:00 | 3.193 at 20:00 | 18.7 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| GBP/USD | 1 at 07:00 | 3.39 at 20:00 | 24.8 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| USD/JPY | 1 at 07:00 | 5.775 at 20:00 | 57.4 at 00:00 | 00:00 |
| AUD/USD | 0.9 at 07:00 | 3.993 at 20:00 | 13.6 at 12:00 | 12:00 |
| USD/CAD | 1.4 at 07:00 | 2.787 at 20:00 | 21.4 at 12:00 | 12:00 |
| USD/CHF | 1.3 at 07:00 | 3.658 at 20:00 | 18.2 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| NZD/USD | 1.4 at 07:00 | 4.675 at 20:00 | 12.8 at 12:00 | 12:00 |
| EUR/GBP | 1.3 at 07:00 | 2.518 at 21:00 | 8.4 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| EUR/JPY | 1.6 at 07:00 | 8.396 at 20:00 | 59.3 at 00:00 | 00:00 |
| GBP/JPY | 2.131 at 14:00 | 22.91 at 20:00 | 69.8 at 00:00 | 00:00 |
| AUD/JPY | 1.1 at 07:00 | 5.087 at 20:00 | 39.2 at 00:00 | 00:00 |
| XAU/USD (Gold) | 25.962 at 11:00 | 26.438 at 21:00 | 3025.5 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| XAG/USD (Silver) | 3 at 07:00 | 3 at 07:00 | 81.2 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| US Oil (WTI) | 2 at 07:00 | 2 at 07:00 | 118 at 15:00 | 15:00 |
| UK Oil (Brent) | 3.277 at 17:00 | 4.434 at 23:00 | 127.5 at 15:00 | 15:00 |
| BTC/USD | 1000 at 07:00 | 1000 at 07:00 | 37088.4 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| ETH/USD | 100 at 07:00 | 100 at 07:00 | 1474.7 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| US500 (S&P 500) | 42 at 01:00 | 51.291 at 15:00 | 3268.7 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| US30 (Dow) | 11 at 08:00 | 12.01 at 13:00 | 2742.1 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| USTEC (Nasdaq 100) | 127 at 07:00 | 128.373 at 21:00 | 26715.3 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| DE30 (DAX) | 7 at 07:00 | 65.548 at 22:00 | 1326.1 at 07:00 | 07:00 |
| JP225 (Nikkei 225) | 32.071 at 04:00 | 39 at 20:00 | 8149 at 00:00 | 00:00 |
| UK100 (FTSE 100) | 100.343 at 18:00 | 920.389 at 21:00 | 5015.7 at 07:00 | 07:00 |
Spread in pips (points for non-FX). ‘Movement-per-cost peak’ is the hour with the most movement per pip of spread.
The rollover hour
In this sample the widest EUR/USD hour was 20:00 server time, where the average spread ran about 4× the typical hour. This is the daily rollover window — swaps are applied, liquidity providers reset, and quotes briefly widen. Positions held with tight stop-losses through this hour can be stopped out by the spread alone. The most active hours by tick count were 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00.
How this was measured
- Spread by hour: every captured quote on Exness's own MT5 feed, bucketed by server hour (last 24h).
- Movement by hour: average H1 candle range over the last 7 sessions, from the same feed.
- The ratio compares movement to entry cost only — it is not a prediction of direction.
- Figures refresh on a schedule and vary day to day.
Measured in-terminal on Exness’s own MetaTrader 5 pricing feed and symbol specifications, refreshed on a schedule. All figures are indicative and change with market conditions.
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