ICT Kill Zones: Times in New York, London and UTC
The ICT kill zone times in New York time, what each session is known for, why volume matters more than the name, and how to test whether they help your trading.
Kill zones are the hours when, in ICT teaching, large traders are most active and the best setups tend to appear. In plain terms they are a time filter: instead of watching the whole day, you only look for trades in a few windows when markets tend to move most.
The times
These are the common windows, in New York time. Teachers differ by up to an hour, so treat them as a starting point.
| Kill zone | New York time | Often known for |
|---|---|---|
| Asia | 20:00 to 22:00 | A quiet range that sets the highs and lows others trade later |
| London open | 2:00 to 5:00 | The first big move of the day in currency pairs and gold |
| New York open | 7:00 to 10:00 | US data at 8:30, then the stock open at 9:30 |
| London close | 10:00 to 12:00 | London traders closing positions, sometimes a reversal |
For London session details in other time zones, see London session forex hours. When the US or the UK changes its clocks, the windows move in UTC.
Why time matters at all
Markets don't move evenly through the day. In our own research on NQ by time of day, the first hour of the New York session held the day's high or low on most days, and the opening five minutes moved about twice as much as five minutes at midday. Volume and range cluster around the opens, and that is a measurable reason to focus on them. The name of the window matters much less than that.
How traders use them
- As a filter. Take your normal setup, such as a fair value gap or a liquidity sweep, only inside a chosen window.
- As a map. The high and low of one session become levels to watch in the next, for example the Asia range during the London open.
- For a routine. Fewer hours of screen time means fewer bored trades. That alone helps many traders.
How to test it
Don't take the window on faith. Tag each trade with its session, then compare win rate and average result by hour once you have enough trades.
In ChartTrainer, the Kill zones indicator shades Asia, the London open, the New York open and the London close on the chart, with every window editable. You can start a random day at the New York open in the ICT simulator with the date hidden, and Progress on the Pro plan breaks your results down by hour. Practice results don't promise real results.
Questions
- What are the ICT kill zone times?
- The most common version in New York time is Asia 20:00 to 22:00, the London open 2:00 to 5:00, the New York open 7:00 to 10:00 and the London close 10:00 to 12:00. Teachers differ by up to an hour.
- Which kill zone is best?
- For US index futures most of the volume is around the New York open. For currency pairs and gold, the London open matters too. Test the one you can actually trade, because a session you sleep through is worth nothing.
- Do kill zones change with daylight saving?
- They are set in New York time, so they follow the New York clock. In UTC or London time they shift when the clocks change, and the gap between New York and London changes for a few weeks each year.
- Do kill zones work on stocks and crypto?
- The idea is about when traders are active. US stocks trade from 9:30 to 16:00 New York time, so only part of it applies. Crypto trades all day, but its volume still tends to follow the big sessions.
- Do I have to trade only inside kill zones?
- No. They are a filter that cuts down the number of hours you watch. Compare your results inside and outside them and keep the filter only if it helps.