Tokyo lunch and the quiet 11:30 to 12:30

[Shadow Trader]

Japanese markets pause for lunch around 11:30am to 12:30pm Tokyo time. For USDJPY, that's a visible lull. Spreads are a bit wider, quotes are slower, and ranges narrow.

What happens next is more interesting. After the lunch break, activity picks up as Japanese players return, and the pair often tests the morning's high or low. The first move after the break is frequently a sweep of the range extremes.

A related quirk is that Chinese markets also pause, so the whole region goes into a pause together. Then the afternoon session reopens and brings a mini wave of activity.

For scalping, the lunch window itself isn't tradable in the usual sense. But marking the morning's range and watching the post-lunch reaction offers a cleaner setup than trading through the lull.

The effect is modest and easily drowned out by news. But on quiet days, the pattern is visible enough that it can be used as a reference for the rest of the session.

After the Tokyo lunch break, does USDJPY keep sweeping the morning range, or was that a one-off?