UTC-aligned from tick to bar: Timezones and DST (daylight saving time) can silently distort intraday research. Our strict UTC normalization policy ensures every tick and every OHLCV bar lands on the correct, reproducible timestamp—no ambiguous offsets, no drift across sessions or venues.
Why UTC-only matters
- No DST drift: Eliminates “missing” or “duplicated” hours during DST switches that corrupt indicators and labels.
- Cross-venue consistency: Merges from multiple liquidity venues line up 1:1 on time without local-time conflicts.
- Reproducibility: Identical inputs → identical UTC timestamps → stable backtests and model governance.
- Simpler pipelines: Storage, queries, and scheduling stay predictable (no per-region exceptions).
What our UTC/DST policy does
- Normalize all timestamps to UTC: Ingest local/exchange time → validate → convert → persist as UTC.
- Detect DST transition windows: Flag “spring forward” / “fall back” segments to prevent duplicated/missing intervals.
- Session coherence: Optional market-session masks applied in UTC to keep training/evaluation windows stable.
- Deterministic bar alignment: Tick→OHLCV builder snaps to
[UTC start, UTC end)with explicit rounding rules. - Integrity artifacts: Per-file checksums + manifest so time policies are fully auditable.
Deliverables (time-normalized, research-ready)
- UTC-normalized ticks in CSV/Parquet, partitioned by
YYYY/MM/DD. - Deterministic OHLCV (M1–D1) with UTC-anchored intervals and session-aware options.
- Policy & manifest: One-pager of time rules + SHA-256 checksums for audit trails.
Key metrics (example)
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
DST windows neutralized |
2× / year (typical) | Spring forward / fall back handled deterministically |
Timezone sources |
Exchange/local → UTC | All inputs conformed to UTC on ingest |
Bar alignment |
[t, t+Δ) in UTC | No overlap; exact boundary policy documented |
Session masking |
Optional | London/NY sessions in UTC; excludes weekends/off-hours if set |
Integrity |
SHA-256 + manifest | Per-file checksums for reproducibility & audits |
Who benefits
- Prop & quant teams: stable intraday features across retrains and venues.
- AI/SMC pipelines: no label leakage from timezone quirks; consistent session cuts.
- Vendors & funds: audit-grade datasets with clear time policies.
Our process
- Intake: receive tick archives with explicit timezone context (or infer safely with rules).
- Normalization: convert all timestamps to UTC; flag DST transition intervals.
- Validation: check ordering, gaps, and boundary correctness post-conversion.
- Delivery: UTC ticks + deterministic OHLCV (optional) + policy + manifest.
Why us
- Deterministic by design: time policy enforced identically across full history.
- Research-grade QA: ordering/gap checks after timezone normalization.
- Forex-specific know-how: weekend handling, session masks, symbol-aware rounding.
SEO keywords we actually cover
forex utc alignment, dst pitfalls forex data, timezone normalization ticks, deterministic ohlcv utc, session-aware bars, dst drift backtesting, utc-only research workflow, reproducible intraday features, cross-venue tick merge utc, audit-grade time policy.
FAQ
Do you keep everything strictly in UTC?
Yes. All persisted timestamps (ticks and bars) are UTC to avoid DST/local ambiguity and to keep research reproducible.
How do you handle the DST switch hour?
We explicitly detect transition windows and prevent duplicated/missing intervals in bar construction. The policy is documented in the deliverables.
Can I still use market sessions like London/NY?
Yes—sessions are defined in UTC and applied consistently across the dataset to maintain stable windows.
What if my source files mix timezones?
We normalize each source stream to UTC on ingest and validate ordering/gaps after conversion. Mixed sources are then safe to merge.
Try it with your data
Send a single day of raw ticks with timezone context—we’ll return UTC-normalized ticks + optional OHLCV + policy + manifest so you can verify drift-free analytics.