Rollover hour spreads and why the 5pm New York window is a no-go
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 7:14 am
Between roughly 4:55 and 5:15 pm New York time, the liquidity providers reset their books for the next value date. Spreads on majors can jump from 0.2 to 3 or 5 pips, and exotics go completely haywire.
The ugly part is that the quoted price still moves. Charts show candles forming, tempting entries, and a clean-looking setup that would be great at normal spreads. Then the fill happens at a cost that eats the entire target.
Stop losses are exposed too. A widening spread can trigger a stop on a long position even if the underlying price barely moved, because the bid dropped as the spread opened up. Plenty of unexplained stop-outs at the end of the day come down to exactly this.
The fix is boring but effective: flat before 4:50 and wait until spreads settle. Many brokers show the spread normalising by 5:30 to 6:00, but the exact time varies, so watching the live spread is better than trusting a clock.
When does the spread settle back to normal on your broker, and is it the same every day?
The ugly part is that the quoted price still moves. Charts show candles forming, tempting entries, and a clean-looking setup that would be great at normal spreads. Then the fill happens at a cost that eats the entire target.
Stop losses are exposed too. A widening spread can trigger a stop on a long position even if the underlying price barely moved, because the bid dropped as the spread opened up. Plenty of unexplained stop-outs at the end of the day come down to exactly this.
The fix is boring but effective: flat before 4:50 and wait until spreads settle. Many brokers show the spread normalising by 5:30 to 6:00, but the exact time varies, so watching the live spread is better than trusting a clock.
When does the spread settle back to normal on your broker, and is it the same every day?