What it does
FXP Session Boxes outlines each trading session on your chart. Every Asia, London and New York session gets a rectangle spanning its high and low, with the session name and range in pips printed above it. The box for the live session grows as the session develops.
Session hours are entered in local exchange time (Tokyo, London, New York), and the indicator converts them to your broker's server time, including daylight saving, so the boxes stay in the right place all year.
How it works
- Each candle's server time is converted to UTC using the server GMT offset and the server daylight-saving rule. Most MetaTrader brokers run on GMT+2 in winter and GMT+3 during US daylight saving, which is the default.
- UTC is converted to each session's local time: Tokyo is UTC+9 all year, London follows UK daylight saving (last Sunday of March to last Sunday of October), and New York follows US daylight saving (second Sunday of March to first Sunday of November).
- If the local time falls inside the session window, the candle belongs to that day's session. Windows that cross midnight are supported.
- The box starts at the first candle of the session and its top and bottom track the highest high and lowest low of all session candles so far.
- Only new candles are processed on each update; the forming candle simply extends the current box.
How to use it
Copy the .ex5 file into MQL5/Indicators and attach it to an M1 to H1 chart. First check your broker's server offset (compare the Market Watch clock with GMT) and set it in the inputs.
The Asian range is often narrow on major pairs, and some traders watch for London to break it. Overlaps between London and New York tend to be the most active hours. Our forex market hours tool and the lesson on forex trading sessions explain the session clock in more detail.
Session ranges in pips also help you compare today with previous days: an unusually small Asian range sometimes precedes a larger move, but not always.
Settings
| Input | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Server GMT offset in winter | 2 | Base server offset. |
| Server daylight-saving rule | US | None, US or EU summer shift of the server clock. |
| Show Asia / London / New York session | true | Toggle each session. |
| Start and end times | 09:00-18:00 Tokyo, 08:00-17:00 London, 08:00-17:00 New York | Session windows in local time (HH:MM). |
| Session colors | blue / green / red | Box colors. |
| Days of history to draw | 10 | Number of past days. |
| Fill boxes | true | Filled or outline boxes. |
| Show session name and range (pips) | true | Text above each box. |
Limitations
- A wrong server offset shifts every box. Brokers differ, and some change their offset on different dates, so verify it against a known time.
- Daylight-saving dates are computed from current US and EU rules; very old history from before those rules may be off by one hour.
- Boxes are hidden on timeframes above H1, where one candle can span most of a session.
- Session behavior varies a lot from day to day; a range break is not a signal by itself. Trading involves substantial risk of loss.