🌙 The Risk of Trading During Low-Liquidity Hours (and Why It Destroys Stops)
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🌙 The Risk of Trading During Low-Liquidity Hours (and Why It Destroys Stops)

12 December 2025, 07:17
Issam Kassas
Issam Kassas
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🌙 The Risk of Trading During Low-Liquidity Hours (and Why It Destroys Stops)

🎯 The Lesson

Most traders think the market is the same 24/5.
It’s not.
During low-liquidity hours — especially late New York session and early Asia —
the market becomes unstable, unpredictable, and heavily manipulated by large orders.

If you don’t adjust your risk during these hours, your stops will get hit far more often, even when your analysis is correct.

🕒 1. When Liquidity Is Lowest

The weakest periods of the trading day:

  • 22:00–01:00 UTC — post-New York close

  • Before Tokyo fully opens

  • Between Asia and London (dead zone)

  • Fridays after 18:00 UTC

  • Holidays and bank closures

During these windows:

  • spreads widen

  • slippage increases

  • volatility becomes irregular

  • stop hunts are common

  • price respects no structure

Your risk must reflect this reality.

📉 2. Low Liquidity = High Manipulation

With fewer orders in the market:

  • liquidity providers widen spreads

  • smart money pushes price easily

  • tight stops get cleared instantly

  • fake breakouts appear everywhere

Your stop loss becomes easier to hit because the market needs less volume to move price against you.

🔢 3. The Hidden Spread Trap

During low liquidity:

  • EURUSD spread can go from 0.2 → 1.5 pips

  • XAUUSD can jump from 10 → 40 points

  • NAS100 can widen massively

If you use tight stops (especially 5–10 pips),
the spread alone can close your position.

This is why your strategy fails at night — not because it's bad, but because spread kills it.

⚙️ 4. Adjust Your Risk Settings During Low-Liquidity Hours

Here’s the professional approach:

✔️ Use half your normal size
✔️ Avoid scalping completely
✔️ Use wider stops + smaller lots
✔️ Avoid market orders — use limit orders
✔️ Check spreads before entering
✔️ Avoid correlated exposure

If spread is abnormal → don’t trade.

🧮 5. Use a Session Filter in Your Risk Plan

Never open new trades during:

  • the last hour of New York

  • the first hour of Asia

  • the Asia–London dead zone

Your risk model must include time-based filters, not just technical rules.

✋ 6. When in Doubt, Stay Out

Low liquidity doesn’t offer real opportunities.
It offers traps.
A single bad trade during these hours can ruin an entire day’s or week’s performance.

Professional traders simply don’t trade when the market lacks liquidity —
because the risk isn’t justified by the reward.

🚀 Takeaway

Low-liquidity hours create fake volatility, unpredictable movements, and unfair stop-outs.
If you want your strategy to perform consistently, avoid trading during these zones or reduce your size drastically.

Your goal is not to trade more —
it’s to trade when the odds are in your favor.

📢 Join my MQL5 channel for more trading & risk-management insights:
👉 https://www.mql5.com/en/channels/issam_kassas