Gold Trading Hours (XAUUSD): Server Time, Daily Break and DST Explained

Search for "when is the gold market open" and you get a mix of New York times, London times and Tokyo times. None of them is the time you see in MT4 or MT5, and none of them tells you when your broker actually pauses gold. This guide starts from broker server time, converts it to UTC, and then to one local example, so you can plan around the daily break, the weekend and the clock changes.

For how sessions affect spreads across all instruments, see forex trading sessions and when spreads widen. This article is about gold only.

Key takeaways

• Gold (XAUUSD) trades nearly 24 hours from Monday to Friday, with a short daily break around the broker's date rollover and a closure from Friday night until the weekly open
• The times in MT4/MT5 are broker server time. XMTrading's server time is GMT+3 during US daylight saving time and GMT+2 the rest of the year, so UTC = server time minus 3 or 2 hours
• For UTC+7 (Thailand, Vietnam, no DST), local time = server time plus 4 hours in summer and plus 5 hours in winter
• In 2026 the EU ends daylight saving on October 25 and the US on November 1, so sessions shift by one hour on different dates
• The daily rollover is also when swap is applied and spreads tend to widen. For exact opening and closing minutes, read the symbol specification in your own platform

The short version

1. Gold is open for most of the day on weekdays. There is a short break around the date change on the broker's server, and the market is closed on weekends.
2. Every time you see in the platform is server time, not your local time and not UTC.
3. The break, the weekly open and the weekly close all move by one hour when server time switches between GMT+2 and GMT+3.
4. Exact minutes vary by broker, account type and symbol, and brokers can change them. Treat any table in an article, including this one, as a planning guide and confirm the real numbers in the platform.

Why gold trades almost around the clock

Spot gold is quoted against the US dollar and traded through banks, dealers and exchanges in several time zones. Activity passes from Asia to London to New York, so during the week there is nearly always someone to take the other side. Retail brokers offer gold as a CFD on that price, and the CFD follows the same weekly rhythm: it opens when trading restarts after the weekend and closes when New York finishes on Friday.

The daily break is not a market rule. It is the broker's own rollover window, which lines up with the end of the New York trading day. During the break you cannot open, modify or close positions, and pending orders and stop-losses cannot be executed while the symbol is closed. That matters if you hold through it.

How server time works

MT4 and MT5 show the time of the broker's trading server. Many brokers set it so that a new trading day begins when New York closes. Because New York observes daylight saving time, the server clock follows:

• While the US is on daylight saving time (second Sunday of March to first Sunday of November): server time is GMT+3
• While the US is on standard time: server time is GMT+2

XMTrading's help pages state that GOLD swap is applied at 00:00 server time (GMT+2 with daylight saving adjustment). So the rollover sits at the same server-clock time all year, while the UTC time of that moment moves by an hour.

If you set an alert or an expert advisor to a server-time hour, it fires at a different UTC time after the switch. That is the most common way the clock change catches people out.

Daily break and weekly open and close, in UTC

Based on the pattern XMTrading-style brokers publish for gold, the symbol opens roughly one hour after the server date change and closes just before the next one. The figures below are approximate planning values derived from that pattern. They are not exact opening and closing minutes.

The weekly open and close are simply the first and last daily sessions of the week, so the one-hour shift applies to them too.

Conversion example for UTC+7

Thailand and Vietnam are on UTC+7 all year with no daylight saving. Add seven hours to the UTC figures (or add 4 or 5 hours to server time):

So a trader in UTC+7 who thinks of Friday evening as the end of the week is actually trading into Saturday morning, and the first gold quotes of the week arrive early on Monday.

For exact times, open the symbol specification in your platform (in MT4, right-click the symbol in Market Watch and choose Specification) and read the trading sessions. That is the authoritative source for your account.

What changes when daylight saving switches

Clock changes go wrong most often because the UK, the EU and the US do not switch on the same day.

Two effects follow:

• Between October 25 and November 1, London has already moved while New York has not, so the London and New York overlap is one hour shorter than usual for that week.
• From November 1, the daily break, weekly open and weekly close all move one hour later in UTC, and one hour later in UTC+7. In March the reverse happens.

The spring changes also fall on different dates in the US and Europe, so the same one-week mismatch recurs then. If you trade around these weeks, anchor to server time and check your platform rather than trusting a static table.

Holidays and year-end

Brokers usually adjust gold hours around Christmas, New Year and some US holidays: early closes, late opens or a suspended day. They normally announce a specific schedule on their website or in a client notice shortly before. Liquidity is thinner around these dates even while the market is open, so spreads can be wider and prices can jump. Check your broker's holiday notice in the second half of December rather than assuming a normal week.

Session behaviour: Asia, London, New York

Gold's character changes through the day. These are general tendencies, not rules, and they vary by day and by news. The UTC windows are approximate and shift by an hour with daylight saving.

Large moves are not the same as good trades. They bring more risk, wider slippage and bigger swings against your position.

Spread widening at the open and the rollover

Gold spreads tend to widen at two predictable times: during the minutes around the daily rollover, and just after the weekly open when few participants are quoting. They also widen around major releases such as US jobs data, inflation data and central bank decisions. If you trade then, expect a higher cost per lot than the spread you see mid-session. The cost mechanics are in gold (XAUUSD) trading costs explained, and the gap you may face after the weekend is covered in weekend gap risk explained.

Swap and the 00:00 server-time rollover

Holding gold past the rollover costs or earns swap. XMTrading states that GOLD swap is applied at 00:00 server time, with triple swap on Wednesday. Swap values change daily, so read them in the platform. If you intend to hold across the rollover, note its UTC time for the current season, remembering that it moves with daylight saving.

For XMTrading's gold symbols and conditions by account type, see XM gold spread and trading conditions and the best XM account for gold trading. XMTrading's help pages are in Japanese, so details here come from translated originals and can change.

Does the hour you trade affect cashback?

No. CB-Dogs cashback is calculated on closed trading volume that clears the broker's rules, so the same lots earn the same cashback at any time of day. What changes by time of day is the spread you pay. Cashback is 60% of the IB commission actually paid to CB-Dogs, and per-lot amounts depend on the account type:

Payouts are in USDT on TRC20 only. The minimum withdrawal is 10 USDT, with a 3 USDT fee below 50 USDT and no fee at 50 USDT or more.

Checklist for your own planning

• Find your broker's server time offset and whether it follows US daylight saving time
• Write the daily break, weekly open and weekly close in your own local time, for summer and winter
• Read the sessions in the symbol specification in MT4/MT5 and treat them as your source of truth
• Re-check after October 25 and November 1 in 2026, and again in March
• Avoid opening new positions in the minutes around the rollover and the weekly open unless you accept the wider spread
• Review your broker's holiday notice before Christmas and New Year

Frequently asked questions

Is gold traded 24 hours a day?

Close to it on weekdays. Gold CFDs trade almost around the clock from Monday to Friday, with a short daily break at the broker's date rollover and a closure over the weekend. Exact times vary by broker and are shown in the symbol specification in your platform.

What time does the gold market open and close in UTC?

How do I convert MT4 or MT5 server time to my local time?

What is the best time to trade gold?

Does the cashback change depending on the time I trade?

Summary

Work from server time, convert it to UTC with the GMT+2 or GMT+3 offset, then to your local time, and re-check at each daylight saving change. The daily break and the weekend are the two gaps in gold's week, and the rollover and weekly open are where spreads and swap matter most. Read exact times in the symbol specification, and see how cashback fits your account in gold cashback per lot explained.