Best time of day to buy and sell shares
The most widely observed pattern in intraday share trading is that the first one to two hours after market open tend to have the highest volume and volatility. This is when overnight news — earnings, economic data, geopolitical events — is digested and priced into the market. The result is rapid price movements and wide spreads in the opening minutes, narrowing as the session progresses.
For active traders, this opening period offers the most opportunity — and the most risk. Price movements are sharper, execution is faster, and the potential for both gains and losses is elevated. Many experienced day traders focus the majority of their activity in this window.
The final hour of trading — the closing auction period — also tends to see elevated activity as institutional investors rebalance positions ahead of the end of day.
The middle of the trading day — broadly between 11am and 2pm for UK markets — tends to be the quietest period in terms of volume and volatility, which can mean tighter spreads but fewer opportunities for short-term traders.
With us, you can trade UK shares from 8am to 4:30pm during normal market hours. For US shares, the NYSE and Nasdaq are open from 2:30pm to 9pm UK time. We also offer extended hours trading on certain US stocks outside these windows, giving access to price movements around earnings releases and major news events.
