Session · London
London Session Backtester
The London open is where most FX strategies were born and where most of them are never actually measured. "London takes the Asian range" is a claim with a hit rate — and it is a different hit rate on every pair, which is precisely why a general answer is no use to you.
What the chart shades, and when
CRTLAB draws the killzones in New York time: London Open 02:00–05:00, New York AM 07:00–10:00, London Close 10:00–12:00, New York PM 13:30–16:00, and the Asian Range 20:00–00:00 that the London open is so often measured against.
One detail worth knowing before you wonder where the shading went: it paints at 5 minutes and below. Above that a killzone box would be two candles wide and would tell you nothing you could not read off the axis, so it is deliberately not drawn. Every one of these is free — the sessions are not the paid part.
The test everyone means when they say "I trade London"
Mark the Asian range. Wait for the London open. Log what happens: does price break the range and continue, break it and reverse back through, or take one side and then run the other? Those three outcomes have very different frequencies, and the ratio between them is the strategy.
Run it with the sweep detector and key levels on, so the take is marked as well as the level. And split the log by day of week before you draw a conclusion — Monday's London open, with a weekend of news behind it, is not the same event as Wednesday's.
Which pairs, and why it matters
GBPUSD and EURUSD are the natural London instruments — the currencies whose home session it is. The DAX is the index equivalent, with its own Frankfurt open an hour before London is fully in.
AUDUSD is the useful control: it is the one major where the Asian session is frequently a directional move rather than a range, so "break the Asian range" often has no range to break. If your London rules survive that comparison they are rules; if they don't, they were a description of EURUSD.
Frequently asked questions
What time is the London killzone?
CRTLAB shades London Open from 02:00 to 05:00 New York time, and London Close from 10:00 to 12:00. The session times tool shows both in your own timezone if you need to set an alarm rather than a backtest.
Why can't I see the killzone shading?
It paints at 5 minutes and below. On a 15-minute or hourly chart a killzone box would be a couple of candles wide and add nothing, so it is deliberately not drawn.
Is the killzone overlay free?
Yes — killzone sessions are free on every market. The paid overlays are the economic calendar and the full history, not the session boxes.
Should I backtest the London open on indices or FX?
Both, and separately. FX majors have London as their home session; the DAX has its own Frankfurt open an hour earlier. Mixing them into one sample produces an average that describes neither.
Open GBPUSD at the London open
One click — 5-minute cable with the killzones shaded, key levels drawn and sweeps marked.
Open the chart →