The DAX trades on Germany’s Xetra exchange from 09:00 to 17:30 CET, which is 08:00 to 16:30 UK time. As a CFD the German index quotes for longer, roughly 08:00 to 22:00 CET, so you can trade it around the Frankfurt open and on into the US session. The rest of this guide sets out the sessions, the timezone conversions and the windows worth watching.
What are the DAX trading hours?
The official DAX is calculated during the trading day on Xetra, Deutsche Börse’s electronic market, which runs continuous trading from 09:00 to 17:30 CET. Auctions bookend the day. An opening auction settles the first prices just before 09:00, a short intraday auction runs around midday, and a closing auction sets the official close at 17:30. Those auction phases pull liquidity together, which is why the open and the close are the busiest moments of the DAX day. Outside these hours the underlying cash market is shut, though as we will see you can still trade the index in other forms.
What are the DAX trading hours in your time zone?
Frankfurt runs on Central European Time, one hour ahead of the UK, and it shifts to Central European Summer Time on the same daylight-saving schedule as British Summer Time. Because both regions move their clocks together, the DAX cash session stays at 08:00 to 16:30 UK time all year round. The table below converts the core Xetra hours into a handful of zones our readers trade from.
| Location | DAX open | DAX close |
| Frankfurt (CET/CEST) | 09:00 | 17:30 |
| London (GMT/BST) | 08:00 | 16:30 |
| UTC (winter) | 08:00 | 16:30 |
| Dubai (GST) | 12:00 | 20:30 |
| Singapore (SGT) | 16:00 | 00:30 |
When can you trade the DAX as a CFD?
Here is where the index and the cash market part ways. Xetra closes at 17:30, yet the German index keeps being priced through other channels. An indicative version based on DAX futures extends the reading from 17:30 to 22:00 CET, futures on Eurex trade almost around the clock, and the Frankfurt floor quotes until 22:00. Most GER40 and DE40 CFD feeds follow this longer rhythm, quoting from roughly 08:00 to 22:00 CET, with a short daily break and exact hours that vary by provider. GER40 and DE40 are simply other names for the same DAX index, so a CFD priced under any of those tickers tracks the market described here. That wider window lets you trade before and after the cash session, but liquidity is thinnest outside core Xetra hours, so spreads can widen early in the morning and late in the evening.
What are the best times to trade the DAX?
Most of the day’s real movement lands in two windows. The first is the Frankfurt open, from 09:00 to about 10:00 CET, when overnight news gets priced in, volume is high and the DAX often makes its largest moves of the session. That hour overlaps with the London session, which deepens liquidity further. The second window is the afternoon, from around 15:30 to 17:30 CET, when US markets open and a fresh wave of volume arrives ahead of the Xetra closing auction. The quietest stretch tends to be the middle of the German day, roughly 11:00 to 13:00 CET, when moves are smaller and choppier. Busier hours bring tighter pricing but also sharper swings, so the sensible approach is to match your trading to the session rather than treat every hour the same.
Does the DAX trade at weekends or on holidays?
No. The DAX trades Monday to Friday, and both the cash market and index CFDs are closed at the weekend. Trading also pauses on German exchange holidays, including New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour Day on 1 May, and the Christmas period from 24 to 26 December plus New Year’s Eve, alongside a few other scheduled closures. Because the market shuts overnight and at the weekend, news that breaks while it is closed only shows up when it reopens. That can produce a gap, where the index jumps to a new level at the open instead of moving there gradually, and it is a real risk to manage if you hold positions overnight.
Why do DAX trading hours matter?
Hours feed straight into what a trade costs and how much it can move against you. Spreads are usually tightest and fills cleanest during core Xetra hours, when liquidity in the German blue-chip index is deepest, and they can widen in the extended CFD windows either side. Any position held past the daily cut-off picks up overnight financing, so timing changes the running cost of a trade as well. Because index CFDs are leveraged, up to 1:500 depending on the instrument, an opening gap can move a position hard before you have a chance to react, which is exactly why the weekend and holiday closures are worth planning around. Leverage magnifies losses as much as gains. If you are still getting to grips with the instrument, our explainer on indices trading and the wider guide to how to trade indices cover the fundamentals, and a dedicated DAX trading guide walks through strategy and the DAX 40 companies in more depth.
Regulators watch this leverage closely. Both the ESMA and the FCA cap how much leverage retail clients can use on index CFDs, and the caps are one reason risk sizing matters as much as timing. When you want to trade the German index alongside other global benchmarks, you can do so on the Volity indices platform, with spreads, margin and overnight financing set out under charges and fees. Volity offers the DAX as a CFD through Volity MT, with CySEC-regulated execution under UBK Markets (licence 186/12). You can open an account for free, practise on a demo, fund from as little as $1 and start trading from $1.
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Frequently asked questions
What time does the DAX open and close?
The DAX cash market opens at 09:00 and closes at 17:30 CET on Xetra, with opening and closing auctions setting those prices. That is 08:00 to 16:30 UK time. As a CFD, the German index typically quotes for longer, from around 08:00 to 22:00 CET, depending on the provider.
What are the DAX trading hours in UK time?
In the UK the DAX cash session runs 08:00 to 16:30. Germany and the UK change their clocks for daylight saving on the same dates, so this stays constant through the year, with Frankfurt always one hour ahead of London.
Can you trade the DAX outside Xetra hours?
Yes, as a CFD. Although Xetra closes at 17:30 CET, the German index is still priced through futures and an indicative reading until 22:00 CET, and GER40 or DE40 CFD feeds usually quote from about 08:00 to 22:00 CET. Liquidity is thinner outside core hours, so spreads can widen.
Is the DAX open on weekends?
No. The DAX trades Monday to Friday, and both the cash market and index CFDs are closed at the weekend and on German exchange holidays. News breaking while the market is shut can cause the index to gap when it reopens, a risk for positions held overnight or over a weekend.
