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Measured data

Exness Trading Hours — Spread and Movement by Hour · Ethiopia

How the measured spread and the average hourly movement change through the trading day on Exness’s MetaTrader 5 feed — measured 1 Oct · 10:50 EAT. Hours are platform server time.

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How to read this

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
00:000.8810×
01:000.87.710×
02:000.87.49×
03:000.87.49×
04:000.86.48×
05:000.88.711×
06:000.812.315×
07:000.81519×
08:000.815.920×
09:000.811.815×
10:000.811.214×
11:000.811.114×
12:000.815.219×
13:000.81418×
14:000.813.817×
15:000.81418×
16:000.818.824×
17:000.812.416×
18:000.81316×
19:000.87.910×
20:002.9367.32×
21:001.4825.84×
22:000.856×
23:000.84.46×

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

InstrumentTightest avg spreadWidest avg spreadBiggest hourly movementMovement-per-cost peak
EUR/USD0.8 at 07:002.936 at 20:0018.8 at 16:0016:00
GBP/USD1 at 07:0011.87 at 20:0020.6 at 14:0014:00
USD/JPY1 at 07:0017.878 at 20:0037.7 at 08:0008:00
AUD/USD0.9 at 07:005.047 at 20:0014.5 at 13:0013:00
USD/CAD1.444 at 08:004.353 at 20:0014 at 13:0013:00
USD/CHF1.3 at 07:003.124 at 20:0015.9 at 07:0007:00
NZD/USD1.4 at 07:007.317 at 20:0013.2 at 14:0014:00
EUR/GBP1.3 at 07:003.122 at 20:008.6 at 14:0014:00
EUR/JPY1.6 at 07:0015.566 at 20:0040.7 at 00:0000:00
GBP/JPY2.187 at 11:0019.047 at 20:0049.8 at 08:0008:00
AUD/JPY1.1 at 07:006.111 at 20:0029.1 at 01:0001:00
XAU/USD (Gold)24 at 22:0025.289 at 21:002509.7 at 14:0014:00
XAG/USD (Silver)3 at 07:003.049 at 21:0064 at 13:0013:00
US Oil (WTI)2 at 07:002 at 07:00163.9 at 16:0016:00
UK Oil (Brent)3.568 at 20:004.036 at 06:00157 at 16:0016:00
BTC/USD1000 at 07:001000 at 07:0089352 at 14:0014:00
ETH/USD100 at 07:00100 at 07:003205.9 at 14:0014:00
US500 (S&P 500)40 at 07:0048.204 at 20:002666.3 at 14:0014:00
US30 (Dow)10 at 13:0014.039 at 21:002579 at 13:0013:00
USTEC (Nasdaq 100)112 at 07:00114.364 at 11:0017035.7 at 14:0014:00
DE30 (DAX)7 at 07:0068.84 at 22:001461.7 at 08:0008:00
JP225 (Nikkei 225)31 at 16:0049.403 at 21:005319 at 00:0000:00
UK100 (FTSE 100)98 at 07:00914.92 at 21:005062.9 at 07:0007:00

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 06:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00.

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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