Weekend Trading: Should You Hold Forex Positions Over the Weekend?

Traders can’t react in real time, which can trigger weekend price movements.

Liquidity issues and slippage

Liquidity usually drops over the weekend because most banks and institutional traders are inactive. This can result in wider spreads (higher trading costs) and slippage (when an order is executed at a worse price than you wanted).

What can you trade on weekends?

No forex trading on weekends — does this mean you can’t trade at all between Friday and Monday? Not exactly. Crypto, features, and some brokers operate on Saturdays and Sundays, so there is always opportunity to trade.

Weekend forex trading with brokers

Certain brokers like IG, OANDA, and some offshore platforms offer weekend forex trading for a few select currency pairs (for example, Weekend GBPUSD or Weekend EURUSD). This type of market is synthetic — it reflects the prices derived from broker expectations and over-the-counter (OTC) activity rather than the global FX market. Once the official forex market reopens, weekend prices merge into live forex prices.

Weekend forex trading allows you to react to weekend news and gives flexibility to long-term traders, but, as we mentioned, liquidity is lower, spreads are usually wider, and only a limited number of currency pairs are available.

Want to trade on weekends? Check our list of brokers offering weekend trading.

Cryptocurrency trading over the weekend

The crypto market never closes. You can trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets 24/7. The prices often remain volatile over the weekend, which creates profit opportunities, but sudden price crashes, which are common, make this market a risky business. Also, low weekend liquidity can result in price manipulation or larger spreads.

Weekend stock market trading (IG, Nasdaq, FTSE, etc.)

Some brokers offer weekend trading on stock indices: Nasdaq 100, FTSE 100, Dow Jones (DJIA), DAX (Germany 40) and so on. Note that these weekend markets don’t directly reflect official exchange prices: they are influenced by broker algorithms and futures market activity. These markets can be an opportunity to hedge existing positions against risks in regular stock markets.

Also, they can be a good indicator for Monday’s open — indexes track futures market movements.

Pros and cons of holding trades over the weekend

Trading over the weekend is a big dilemma. If you are a long-term trader, you might prefer to keep your positions open during weeks and months. Any temporary volatility won’t affect your trading. Also, if you are a swing trader who has one trade last for up to several days, you might consider keeping trades open over a weekend.

To keep trading over the weekend, be sure you’re trading on the right timeframe. H4, daily timeframes may provide you with this opportunity.

If you do hold a trade over the weekend, you may suffer big losses if the market is shocked by unexpected news that you couldn’t have predicted. If you close trading before the weekend, you might lose an opportunity for a profitable trade. Imagine how frustrating it would be for a price to continue moving your way after the weekend, but for the good entry point to have passed you by.

So, should you keep a trade open over the weekend? If you expect an accurate answer, you won’t find it here. There are many factors that you will have to take into consideration before keeping the trading open, and certain benefits and drawbacks of this decision.

In the end, it’s up to you.

Advantages

Large price movements aren't always bad. It can lead to significant profit opportunities when the market reopens on Monday. Also there are fewer minor fluctuations which is good for long-term traders.

Disadvantages

However, the gaps are unpredictable: there’s always high risk of losses as you have limited control over trades. You can’t adjust positions during the weekend, so take all the risk management measures in advance.

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Strategies for managing trades over the weekend

What forex weekend trading strategies can you use to protect your capital and manage risks?

1. Closing positions before the market closes

Many traders, including day traders and short-term swing traders, prefer to exit trades before the weekend. It’s the safest way:

• to avoid price gaps and changes in market sentiment.

• to eliminate the risk of slippage.

• to reduce uncertainty, since traders can’t adjust stop-losses or manage risks during the weekend.

2. Hedging strategies

If you decide to keep your positions open during the weekend, adopt some hedging strategies to reduce risks. For example:

• Take an opposite position in the same pair (if you hold EURAUD long, go short AUDEUR).
  Buy options (Buy put options if you hold a pair long, and buy call options when shorting a pair. It’s not a perfect strategy, because in this case the protection is limited, but you can still reduce the downside or upside risks).

3. Using stop-loss and take-profit orders

The big question is: how to protect your capital from unexpected price gaps?

The answer: use stop-losses and take-profits. A stop-loss automatically closes a trade if the price moves against the trader by a certain amount, while a take-profit locks in profit at a pre-set level before the market reverses.

4. Analyzing weekend news and events

How to prepare for Monday’s market movements? Even if you don’t believe in fundamental analysis, it’s worth checking events that may happen on the weekend. If important events such as Brexit negotiations, Trump speeches, NAFTA negotiations, etc. are planned on the weekend, it’s wise to think about closing your trades. You never know what news will be out and how the market will react to it.

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Weekend trading: best practices

Choosing the right broker for weekend trading

When looking for a broker to continue trading on the weekend, consider the following:

• spreads and fees (remember — weekend spreads are usually wider);

• liquidity and execution speed (high liquidity is a sign of better order execution);

• risk management tools (some brokers offer these for additional fees).

Risk management for weekend traders

Trade small. The smaller the trade, the smaller the risks. Gaps can cause large swings — trading smaller sizes mitigates the risks.

Keep up with the news. Be aware of elections, central bank meetings, or geopolitical events that might trigger market-moving news.

Check the risk/reward ratio. Always take into account the risk/reward ratio (how much you can afford to lose relative to your potential gain). The optimal risk/reward ratio is 1:3. This means that the potential profit is 3 times higher than the possible losses. Be sure that even if the trading goes against you after the weekend, you will have a safety mechanism in place.

What to do if your trade opens with a huge gap

Woke up on Monday to a huge gap? If the gap is in your favor, no worries: you can close the trade or move your stop-loss to break even and protect your profit.

However, if the gap is against you and you face losses:

• don’t panic sell (markets often reverse after a gap, whereas panic selling can lead to even more losses);

• check the news (if a factor that caused the market to move is going to influence the prices further);

• look for reentry opportunities.

FAQ: common questions about weekend trading

Can you trade forex on weekends?

It’s possible, but crucial to be extremely cautious and deliberate about it. Do not lose sight of your risk-reward ratio.

What assets are tradable over the weekend?

If you don’t want to stop trading on weekends, look at crypto, features, or a broker that works on Saturday and Sunday, like IG or OANDA.

How can I protect my trades from weekend gaps?

Close your positions on Friday or hedge them against unexpected market movements by buying options, or the opposite position in the same pair. Buying safe haven assets also works.

Final thoughts

The safest approach is to close the positions before the market closes. If you’re considering trading over the weekend, check all the points we mentioned above, and come up with a solid risk management strategy to protect your finances.

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