Asia stock market open times in UK time: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore

In GMT weeks Tokyo opens at 00:00 UK time, Singapore at 01:00, and Hong Kong and Shanghai at 01:30. Each is one hour later in BST weeks, because the UK changes its clocks and these four markets do not.

By MarketFrame · Published 22 October 2026 · Updated 22 October 2026

Short answer: all four markets finish their main trading day by 10:16 UK time at the latest, and Tokyo and Shanghai are closed before London opens at 08:00. The UK times below are worked out from each exchange's own published local hours.

Why a single "Asia opens at" time does not exist

Many pages give one rounded line such as "Asia 09:00 to 16:00". No exchange actually trades to that timetable, for four reasons:

Two time zones. Japan is UTC+9. Hong Kong, mainland China and Singapore are UTC+8.
Different local hours. Each exchange sets its own open, midday break and close.
Auctions. Some markets set their opening or closing prices in an auction that sits outside continuous trading.
The UK moves. The UK is on GMT (UTC+0) in winter and BST (UTC+1) in summer. None of these four markets changes its clocks.

The four markets in UK time

The arithmetic is the same every time. Take the local time, subtract the local offset to get UTC, then add the UK offset: zero in GMT weeks, one hour in BST weeks. For Tokyo, that means subtracting 9 hours in GMT weeks and 8 in BST weeks. For Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, subtract 8 hours in GMT weeks and 7 in BST weeks.

Worked example: Tokyo's 09:00 open is 00:00 UTC. That is 00:00 UK time in GMT weeks and 01:00 in BST weeks.

Tokyo Stock Exchange (JPX), Japan time UTC+9

Morning session, 09:00 to 11:30: 00:00 to 02:30 UK time (GMT), 01:00 to 03:30 (BST)
Lunch break, 11:30 to 12:30: 02:30 to 03:30 (GMT), 03:30 to 04:30 (BST)
Afternoon session, 12:30 to 15:30: 03:30 to 06:30 (GMT), 04:30 to 07:30 (BST)
Orders accepted from 08:00 local: 23:00 the previous evening (GMT), 00:00 (BST)

JPX publishes the history of its trading-hours changes on the same page, so check there if a source quotes an older closing time.

Hong Kong (HKEX), Hong Kong time UTC+8

Pre-opening auction, 09:00 to 09:30: 01:00 to 01:30 UK time (GMT), 02:00 to 02:30 (BST)
Morning session, 09:30 to 12:00: 01:30 to 04:00 (GMT), 02:30 to 05:00 (BST)
12:00 to 13:00, listed as the "Extended Morning Session": 04:00 to 05:00 (GMT), 05:00 to 06:00 (BST)
Afternoon session, 13:00 to 16:00: 05:00 to 08:00 (GMT), 06:00 to 09:00 (BST)
Closing auction, 16:00 to a random close between 16:08 and 16:10: 08:00 to about 08:10 (GMT), 09:00 to about 09:10 (BST)

HKEX describes its continuous trading as 09:30 to 12:00 and 13:00 to 16:00, and lists the hour in between separately. Check the HKEX page for what that hour covers.

Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), China Standard Time UTC+8

These are the SSE's published times for Main Board stocks.

Opening call auction, 09:15 to 09:25: 01:15 to 01:25 UK time (GMT), 02:15 to 02:25 (BST)
Morning continuous trading, 09:30 to 11:30: 01:30 to 03:30 (GMT), 02:30 to 04:30 (BST)
Midday break, 11:30 to 13:00: 03:30 to 05:00 (GMT), 04:30 to 06:00 (BST)
Afternoon continuous trading, 13:00 to 14:57: 05:00 to 06:57 (GMT), 06:00 to 07:57 (BST)
Closing call auction, 14:57 to 15:00: 06:57 to 07:00 (GMT), 07:57 to 08:00 (BST)

Singapore Exchange (SGX), Singapore time UTC+8

Opening routine (pre-open), 08:30 to 09:00: 00:30 to 01:00 UK time (GMT), 01:30 to 02:00 (BST)
Morning trading, 09:00 to 12:00: 01:00 to 04:00 (GMT), 02:00 to 05:00 (BST)
Mid-day break, 12:00 to 13:00: 04:00 to 05:00 (GMT), 05:00 to 06:00 (BST)
Afternoon trading, 13:00 to 17:00: 05:00 to 09:00 (GMT), 06:00 to 10:00 (BST)
Closing routine and trade at close, 17:00 to 17:16: 09:00 to 09:16 (GMT), 10:00 to 10:16 (BST)

Lunch breaks and closing auctions: why the sessions are not continuous

Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore each stop for a midday break. Hong Kong separates its morning and afternoon sessions with the hour it lists on its own. In an auction, orders are collected first and matched at a single price, so the closing price comes from an auction and not from the last trade of continuous trading.

This matters when you read a headline. Something published at 03:45 UK time in a GMT week landed during the Tokyo and Shanghai lunch breaks. Shares in those markets could not react until trading resumed, so a story about the "Asian reaction" may describe the afternoon session, not the moment the news broke.

Why the UK gap changes twice a year while Asian hours do not

GOV.UK says the UK clocks go forward one hour at 01:00 on the last Sunday in March and back one hour at 02:00 on the last Sunday in October. BST is the period when the clocks are an hour ahead, and GMT applies the rest of the year. The dates it lists are:

2026: forward on 29 March, back on 25 October
2027: forward on 28 March, back on 31 October

In practice, from Monday 26 October 2026 every Asian time above moves from the BST line to the GMT line, so each market opens and closes one hour earlier on the UK clock. It moves back to the BST line after 28 March 2027. US markets shift in a different pattern because the US changes its clocks on different dates, which is covered in our post on US and UK hours in clock-change weeks.

Holidays and half days: where each exchange publishes its calendar

Asian holidays rarely line up with UK bank holidays, so a market can be shut while London trades, or the other way round. We do not list closure dates here because they change every year. Check each exchange's own page:

JPX lists Saturdays, Sundays, Japanese national holidays, 1 to 3 January and 31 December as non-trading days, and links to its calendar from the trading hours page.
HKEX runs half days on the eves of Christmas, New Year and Lunar New Year. On those days it has a morning session followed by a closing auction from 12:00.
SSE publishes its annual trading calendar on its trading schedule page.
SGX publishes a half-day timetable, with trading from 09:00 to 12:00 and trade at close ending at 12:16, in the same rulebook notice as its normal hours.

How Asian-hours news reaches the London morning

The London Stock Exchange's trading hours are 08:00 to 16:30 UK time (more on London's day and when news lands). By 08:00, Tokyo and Shanghai have closed in both GMT and BST weeks. Hong Kong and Singapore are in their afternoon or closing phases.

So company results, regulator decisions and official data released during Asian hours have usually been reported by the time UK readers wake up. When you open the MarketFrame FTSE news hub in the early morning, many of the Asia-related stories describe events that finished hours earlier. The London trading day has not started yet.

How to read an overnight Asia headline before London opens (five checks)

Convert the timestamp. Use the lists above to place the story in UK time and in the right market's session.
Name the market. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore are separate exchanges with separate hours and rules.
Check whether that market was trading. A story published during a midday break or after the close has not been traded on yet in that market.
Find the original source. A company's own announcement or an exchange notice comes before a summary of it.
Check the UK link. Ask whether it really concerns a FTSE 100 company, for example a mining group in MarketFrame's mining sector coverage or a bank with large Asian operations such as Standard Chartered.

If you want the background on the index itself, see what the FTSE 100 is and how it works.

What the hours do not tell you

Trading hours tell you when a market can react. They say nothing about how it will react. MarketFrame scores the tone of each company's news coverage from -10 to +10, and that score describes the coverage. News tone is not a share-price forecast, and an upbeat or gloomy overnight headline from Asia is not one either. This page is general information, not advice.

Questions

What time does the Japanese stock market open in UK time?

Tokyo's morning session starts at 09:00 Japan time: 00:00 UK time in GMT weeks and 01:00 in BST weeks.

What time does the Hong Kong stock market open in the UK?

Continuous trading starts at 09:30 Hong Kong time: 01:30 UK time in GMT weeks and 02:30 in BST weeks. The pre-opening auction starts 30 minutes earlier.

At what time does Asia open in UK time?

In GMT weeks Tokyo opens first at 00:00 UK time, then Singapore at 01:00, then Hong Kong and Shanghai at 01:30. Add one hour to each in BST weeks.

Do Asian stock market hours change when the UK clocks change?

No. The local hours stay the same, and only the UK equivalent moves by one hour.

Is the Asian market open when the London Stock Exchange opens?

At 08:00 UK time Tokyo and Shanghai have closed. Hong Kong and Singapore are still in their afternoon or closing phases, and Singapore trades until 09:00 (GMT) or 10:00 (BST) UK time.

Questions people ask

What time does the Japanese stock market open in UK time?

The Tokyo Stock Exchange morning session starts at 09:00 Japan time. That is 00:00 UK time in GMT weeks and 01:00 in BST weeks. JPX starts accepting orders at 08:00 Japan time, which is 23:00 UK time the evening before in GMT weeks.

What time does the Hong Kong stock market open in the UK?

The HKEX pre-opening auction runs from 09:00 to 09:30 Hong Kong time, and continuous trading starts at 09:30. In UK time that is 01:00 and 01:30 in GMT weeks, or 02:00 and 02:30 in BST weeks.

At what time does Asia open in UK time?

No single time covers Asia. In GMT weeks Tokyo opens at 00:00 UK time, Singapore at 01:00, and Hong Kong and Shanghai start continuous trading at 01:30. Add one hour to each in BST weeks.

Do Asian stock market hours change when the UK clocks change?

Local hours in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore stay the same all year. The UK moves between GMT and BST, so the UK-time equivalents move by one hour. They are an hour later on the UK clock in summer and an hour earlier in winter.

Is the Asian market open when the London Stock Exchange opens?

At 08:00 UK time, Tokyo and Shanghai have finished their day in both GMT and BST weeks. In GMT weeks Hong Kong is in its closing auction and Singapore is trading until 09:00 UK time. In BST weeks Hong Kong's afternoon session runs until 09:00 and Singapore trades until 10:00.

Sources

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