A setup from the first six lessons still needs a time. SMC and ICT traders focus on kill zones, short windows around the opens of the big sessions, when price often runs through the stops sitting at the overnight highs and lows. The session hours themselves are in the trading sessions lesson of the Foundations course.
What you will learn
- The Asian, London and New York kill zones in New York time and UK time
- How the UK and US clock changes move them, with the dates for 2026 and 2027
- Why the Asian range becomes the liquidity that London and New York trade into
- How trading more than one kill zone eats into the daily loss limit
What are the kill zones, in UK time?
Kill zones are windows of two to three hours set by Inner Circle Trader (ICT), the name Michael Huddleston teaches under, in New York local time. Sources differ by an hour or so. These are the most quoted windows, with UK time for most of the year:
- Asian kill zone: 20:00 to 22:00 New York, which is 01:00 to 03:00 UK. Some traders run it to midnight New York, 05:00 UK.
- London kill zone: 02:00 to 05:00 New York, which is 07:00 to 10:00 UK.
- New York kill zone: 07:00 to 10:00 New York, which is 12:00 to 15:00 UK, for forex. For US index CFDs, many use 08:30 to 11:00 New York (13:30 to 16:00 UK), which covers the 09:30 stock market open.
- London close: often quoted as 10:00 to 12:00 New York, which is 15:00 to 17:00 UK.
ICT's silver bullet setup uses one-hour windows such as 10:00 to 11:00 New York time. Your platform sets each symbol's trading hours, so check the symbol information before you plan around a window.
How do the clock changes move them?
New York is five hours behind the UK for most of the year, but the two countries change their clocks on different dates. The US moves on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, and the UK on the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October. In the weeks between, New York is only four hours behind, and every kill zone starts an hour earlier on a UK clock.
- From 25 October to 31 October 2026, the London kill zone is 06:00 to 09:00 UK and the New York kill zone is 11:00 to 14:00 UK.
- The same shift applies from 14 March to 27 March 2027.
Some traders keep the London window on London's own clock in those weeks and shift only the New York one; either works if it is written down. Setting your charts to New York time also helps, because the windows then never move on the chart.
Why does the Asian range attract London and New York?
During Asian hours, EUR/USD and GBP/USD often trade in a narrow range. Its high collects buy stops from traders who are short, and its low collects sell stops from traders who are long. These are the buy-side and sell-side liquidity pools from lesson 3.
Mark the range from the high and the low printed between 01:00 and 05:00 UK time. The pattern SMC traders look for in the London kill zone is a push through one side of that range, which fills those stops, followed by displacement back the other way. ICT calls that false first move a Judas swing, and calls the whole day's sequence the power of three: a quiet range in Asia, a stop run in London, then the real move. New York can then carry the London move further or reverse it, often by taking London's own high or low. Treat all of this as a pattern to wait for: plenty of days break the Asian range and keep going, and some never touch it.
A London kill zone trade, worked through
GBP/USD on a Tuesday in an ordinary week. Between 01:00 and 05:00 UK the high is 1.2760 and the low is 1.2725, a 35-pip range. Yesterday's high at 1.2800 is the obvious buy-side liquidity above.
- At 07:35 UK, price drops to 1.2712, 13 pips under the Asian low, taking the sell stops there.
- Three large bullish 5-minute candles follow and close above the 5-minute swing high at 1.2740, a change of character on the 5-minute chart (lesson 2). They leave a fair value gap from 1.2730 to 1.2738, with a midpoint at 1.2734 (lesson 5).
- Place a buy limit at 1.2734 with the stop 5 pips under the sweep low, at 1.2707. That is 27 pips of risk.
- Target yesterday's high at 1.2800, which is 66 pips away, about 2.4 times the risk.
- On a $10,000 Classic account risking 0.5%, or $50: $50 ÷ 27 pips is $1.85 a pip. GBP/USD moves $10 a pip on one standard lot, so round down to 0.18 lots ($1.80 a pip). A stop-out costs $48.60 and the target is worth $118.80, before trading costs.
- If the order has not filled by 10:00 UK, when the kill zone ends, cancel it.
Kill zones and the CMC Funded rules
News trading is allowed on CMC Funded, and the New York kill zone includes 13:30 UK, when many US economic releases come out. The daily loss limit is measured on equity, so an open trade counts against it as soon as it moves against you, and a stop can fill past its level in a fast release. Decide before the session whether you hold a trade through a release.
Each extra kill zone adds trades. Three $50 losses in London and three more in New York make $300, which is 60% of the $500 daily loss limit on a $10,000 Classic account. On a $10,000 Direct account at $40 a trade, the same six losses make $240, also 60% of its $400 limit. Reaching the limit ends the account, so start with one kill zone or set one trade cap for the whole day. The rules page lists the limits for every account size.
Check your understanding
On Wednesday 28 October 2026, what time does the New York kill zone start in the UK?
11:00. UK clocks went back on 25 October and US clocks do not go back until 1 November, so that week New York is four hours behind.
The Asian range on EUR/USD is 1.0840 to 1.0868. At 07:20 UK price trades to 1.0835, then a large bullish candle closes back inside at 1.0846. What has happened, and what do you wait for next?
Price has swept the sell-side liquidity under the Asian low. Wait for displacement that breaks a lower-timeframe swing high and leaves a gap or order block to buy from. The Asian high at 1.0868 is the first liquidity above.
Your London kill zone order is still unfilled at 10:00 UK. What does the plan say?
Cancel it. The window is part of the setup, and a fill outside it is a different trade.
Key points
- ICT sets the kill zones in New York time. For most of the year the London kill zone is 07:00 to 10:00 UK and the New York one is 12:00 to 15:00 UK.
- In the clock-change weeks, 25 to 31 October 2026 and 14 to 27 March 2027, they start an hour earlier on a UK clock.
- The Asian range's high and low hold resting stops, and London often runs one side before the real move, though not every day.
- More kill zones mean more trades counted against the same daily loss limit.
Next lesson: Turn smart money concepts into a checklist you can trade on a challenge
All trading is simulated. Rewards are based on performance and are not guaranteed.