Such is the overlapping nature of global Stock Market hours, that it would be fair to say that at any time during the working week a market is always open somewhere in the world. The advent of the Internet and online brokerages have also created the possibility of trading international markets.
This bring with it great opportunity especially for those whose circumstances do not permit them to trade their local markets. If you work at a full-time job that requires your presence during the normal Stock Market hours of your local market, you are ruled you out from actively participating in the Stock Market, unless you are a long term trader.
Listed below are the normal Stock Market hours of some of the major stock exchanges.
Please note that these times are the local times of the listed exchanges. Some of these exchanges also have pre & post market trading. There are many more exchanges than those listed above, of course, but unfortunately I can't list them all. If the exchange you are interested in is not listed, you can have a look at websites such as Rekomendasi Saham.
Online brokerages like Interactive Brokers allow you to trade International markets. This means that someone resident in the United States could wake up very early during the European Stock Market hours and participate in that market. Alternatively, they could trade the Asian markets late at night.
With opportunity also comes risk. The first risk is that the foreign Stock Market hours might be alien to your body clock. This means that both your mind and body will not be performing at their peak. In fact, if you have a full time job you are very likely to be very tired. It is not advisable to trade when you are tired.
Another risk is the fact that you are quite removed from the activities of the foreign market. This makes it that much more important to keep abreast of news and events that could influence prices during the Stock Market hours. This takes time, but unfortunately time is not a commodity you will have much of if you work full time.
While the overlapping Stock Market hours of International markets make it possible to trade at any time of the day, it is very important to be aware of the pros and cons of doing so.
If you do decide to go ahead, you will have to find out what hours of the day the market you are interested in are open. Next, check the time difference between your own time zone and the time zone of that market, this will tell you what hours in your own time that the foreign market will be open.