Adam Lemon, of DailyForex.com, offers his outlook on the impact of the 4th of July US holiday on the global forex markets since it is not recognized as a public holiday anywhere else in the world. He also suggests a time period in which not to open any new trades in USD pairs.
Friday, July 3 is a major public holiday in the US. This year, the 4th of July is effectively the 3rd of July, 2015.
Note, however, this is not a public holiday anywhere else in the world, so the global forex market should be relatively unaffected today. As the US is one of the major financial centers driving volume in the forex market, we can expect this day to have levels of volatility and price movement somewhat lower than would be usual.
Additionally, this holiday falls on a Friday, so it is likely to form part of a long weekend and cause the markets to get things wrapped up as much as possible before the day, particularly as the key non-farm payrolls data release in the US will be held one day earlier than usual, on the Thursday before the holiday.
For these reasons, we do not recommend opening any new trades in USD pairs whatsoever after 1:00PM Friday London time, until 8:00AM Tokyo time the following Monday, July 6. It is of course acceptable to close trades during this period, as if a stop loss is exceeded during such a relatively slow period, it would be very likely to also be exceeded during an active market. Trades in non-USD pairs can be taken as normal.
Please be aware that most retail forex brokers will allow trading during normal market hours on Friday, July 3. Those based in the US may only offer somewhat curtailed customer support. If your broker is located in the US and you can possibly wait or avoid requiring active support from your broker over this period, you should eventually receive a more prompt and convenient service on the following day.
By Adam Lemon, Contributor, DailyForex.com
