The Best Times of Day to Trade 6A AUD/USD Futures
6A AUD/USD futures don’t move the same way all day. Liquidity, volatility, spreads, and catalysts shift across the Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York sessions. If you don’t understand these windows, you’ll trade dead zones or miss the real moves.
Sydney open: the slow grind
The Sydney session is the quietest part of the entire trading day. Low volume, slow drift, and wider spreads. You’re basically trading leftovers from the U.S. close. Great for backfilling levels, terrible for big momentum plays.
If you’re not familiar with why low liquidity is dangerous, read the market liquidity basics guide.
Tokyo session: the first real action window
Once Tokyo opens, liquidity improves and 6A starts reacting to real catalysts:
- China economic data drops
- Asian equity market direction
- Commodity market movement
Tokyo is cleaner, more structured, and usually gives the first actual tradable trend of the day.
London open: volatility jumps
London doesn’t care about the Aussie as much as Asia does, but FX volume floods in and 6A reacts anyway. This window often gives sharp breakouts, fakeouts, or trend accelerations depending on global sentiment.
London also sets the stage for New York’s follow-through.
New York session: the highest-impact window
This is where 6A sees its biggest moves. Why?
- U.S. macro data releases
- Fed speeches and expectations
- DXY volatility
- Risk-on/risk-off swings across equities and commodities
Because AUD/USD includes the U.S. dollar, anything that hits USD hits 6A immediately. This is the prime time for strong intraday moves.
If you want a deeper look at how data hits price, check out the economic report impact guide.
When NOT to trade 6A
Avoid:
- Dead pre-Sydney drift
- The CME maintenance window
- Holiday sessions with missing Asia or U.S. volume
- Minutes before major U.S. releases unless you’re intentionally trading volatility
These hours lack structure and will chop you up for no reason.
The bottom line
The best time to trade 6A is during Tokyo, London, and especially New York when liquidity and catalysts overlap. The worst time is early Sydney when nothing is happening. Respect the session windows and 6A becomes twice as predictable.