How to use the economic calendar
The calendar lists scheduled economic releases and central bank events, with the previous figure, the market forecast and the actual result once it's published. Prices often move sharply when the actual number differs from the forecast.
Events that move markets most
- Interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of England and Bank of Japan.
- US Non-Farm Payrolls, released on the first Friday of most months.
- Inflation data (CPI), which shapes expectations for future rate moves.
- GDP, retail sales and PMI surveys, which signal the health of an economy.
Trading around the news
- Spreads can widen and prices can gap around major releases, so stop-losses may be filled at a worse price than set.
- Consider reducing position size or staying flat during high-impact events.
- Check which currencies an event affects: a US release mainly moves USD pairs, gold and US indices.
Plan your trade size with the position size calculator and check market hours before you trade.
Calendar data provided by TradingView. Times are shown in your local time zone.
