The term North American session refers to the trading period defined by the securities trading hours of North American and South American exchanges in exchange-based trading. This session runs from approximately 2:30 PM GMT to approximately 9:00 AM GMT (winter) or 1:30 PM GMT to approximately 8:00 AM GMT (summer) (summer).

The North American session is one of three sessions that comprise the full trading day on the stock exchange: the Asian session, the European session, and the North American session. The Asian session begins first (11:00 PM GMT until 8:00 AM GMT), followed by the European session (7:00 AM GMT until 4:00 PM GMT) and the North American session (7:00 AM GMT until 4:00 PM GMT) (2:30 PM GMT until 9:00 AM GMT).

Typically, the overlaps between the Asian and European sessions, as well as the European and North American sessions, are among the busiest trading hours.

Because of the importance of New York exchanges in forex, the North American session is commonly referred to as the New York session.