What is Platform Time?
Eightcap clients have access to MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) and all clients trade under the same platform time. The platforms are set to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) + 2 hours.
What is GMT?
GMT is the time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. The time here is used as a benchmark against all other time zones across the globe. During Australian daytime saving time, GMT is 11 hours behind Melbourne and Sydney. Therefore, the platform time for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 is 9 hours behind Melbourne and Sydney (GMT +2 hours). Using this time zone also coincides with the closing time of the New York Stock Exchange, being 5pm EST.
Daylight saving
The time zone changes periodically with different daylight-saving times, so for example in winter, the platform time changes to GMT +3 hours. It changes twice a year to stay in line with the NYSE. The time adjustment briefly affects trading on MetaTrader the following Monday, with CFD indices opening an hour later than normal. Trading hours then resume back to normal until the end of daylight saving.
When it will happen in 2021?
In 2021 New York will begin daylight saving on Sunday, March 14, where clocks will be turned forward an hour at 2 am. Then again on Sunday, November 7 2021, where clocks will be turned back an hour.
How to change the MT4, MT5 platform zones?
Unfortunately, clients cannot change or alter the platform time on their software to suit local time zones. This means traders should always have in mind that they need to calculate GMT+2 or GMT+3 to their local time. It’s important to know the trading hours across the world when Forex markets open and close and what happens when they do to make sure you don’t miss an important event.
Trading on margin is high risk.