IC Markets
How to read an economic calendar, column by column
An economic calendar is a timetable of scheduled data releases, central bank decisions and speeches, with the number the market expects beside each one. Every row answers four questions: when it lands, how much it tends to move prices, what economists expect, and what came out. Once those four columns make sense, the calendar stops being a wall of numbers and becomes a plan for your week.
Time
When the figure is published. The calendar above converts it to your own time zone.
Plan around it: spreads often widen a minute or two either side.
Importance
How strongly this release has moved the currency in the past.
Filter to high impact to see the few events a week that matter most.
Actual
The figure just released.
Compare it with the forecast, not with your own view of the economy.
Forecast
The consensus: the median expectation of economists polled before the release.
Usually priced in already. Only the gap from it is news.
Previous
Last period's figure, sometimes shown with a revision.
A large revision can matter as much as the new number.
Impact levels
Calendars grade events by how much they usually move prices. TradingView marks them low, medium and high; other calendars use colours such as yellow, orange and red. The grading is historical, not a promise: a "low" release can jump in importance when it is the one number a central bank has said it is watching.
Rate decisions, inflation (CPI), the US jobs report, GDP and central bank press conferences. Expect sharp moves and wider spreads.
Retail sales, business surveys (PMIs), trade balances and some speeches. Moves are usually smaller but can build into a trend.
Secondary data such as housing starts or regional surveys. Rarely market moving on their own.
Flash, preliminary and final readings
Some figures come out more than once. A flash or advance estimate arrives quickly and moves markets most; the preliminary and final readings that follow revise it with fuller data. US GDP, for example, has an advance estimate, a second estimate and a third estimate a month apart, while eurozone inflation has a flash reading before the final one. If a calendar row shows "final", the surprise has usually already been traded on the flash.
That is a clear upside surprise on both counts, so traders would expect a stronger dollar, with pairs such as EUR/USD and GBP/USD falling. If instead the headline beat but average hourly earnings came in well below forecast, the reaction could be muted or even reversed, because the Federal Reserve watches wage growth for inflation pressure. The lesson is to read the whole release, not only the headline, and to judge it against the forecast. Our NFP trading guide goes deeper.
The high-impact events that move currencies
A handful of release types account for most of the big scheduled moves in forex. Each tells the market something about the path of interest rates, which is what ultimately drives a currency's value against another.
Measures: the central bank's policy rate, statement and vote.
Why it moves: sets the return on holding the currency. Guidance about future moves often matters more than the decision itself.
Measures: change in consumer prices; core CPI strips out food and energy.
Why it moves: hot inflation raises the odds of higher rates.
Measures: jobs added outside farming, the unemployment rate and wage growth.
Why it moves: the Fed's employment mandate makes it the most watched monthly US release.
Measures: total economic output, usually quarterly.
Why it moves: confirms or questions the growth story behind rate expectations.
Measures: spending in shops and online.
Why it moves: consumer spending is the biggest part of most developed economies.
Measures: purchasing managers' view of activity; above 50 means expansion.
Why it moves: an early signal of the direction of growth, weeks before GDP.
Measures: comments from governors and committee members.
Why it moves: a single sentence can shift expectations for the next meeting.
Commodity-linked currencies add their own drivers. The Australian and New Zealand dollars respond to Chinese data and commodity prices, and the Canadian dollar to oil. Safe-haven flows matter too: the Swiss franc and Japanese yen tend to rise when markets turn nervous, so geopolitical headlines that never appear on a calendar can move them as much as the data does.
Key US releases to watch, October to December 2026
US data moves the dollar, and the dollar sits on one side of most forex trades, so these dates are worth marking now. All are published at 08:30 New York time. In UK time that is normally 13:30, but 12:30 in the one week in late October when UK clocks have gone back and US clocks have not.
October
- Jobs report (NFP)
- Consumer prices (CPI)
- Retail sales
- GDP (Q3 advance) and PCE 12:30 UK
November
- Jobs report (NFP)
- Consumer prices (CPI)
- Retail sales
- GDP and PCE
December
- Jobs report (NFP)
- Consumer prices (CPI)
- Retail sales
- GDP and PCE
The busiest weeks of the quarter
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Bank of Canada and Federal Reserve all decide on 28 October; the ECB and US third-quarter GDP follow on the 29th, and the Bank of Japan on the 30th. It falls in the clock-change week, so US times are an hour earlier than usual in the UK.
The Fed, Bank of Canada and Reserve Bank of New Zealand on the 9th, then the Swiss National Bank and US inflation on the 10th.
The ECB and Bank of England on the 17th, the Bank of Japan on the 18th, with thin pre-Christmas liquidity close behind.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis and US Census Bureau release schedules, checked 27 September 2026. US agencies occasionally reschedule, so confirm on the live calendar.
Release times by country
Most statistics agencies publish at the same time of day, every time. With that pattern in mind you can plan your trading day around the moments that matter for the pairs you trade.
| Country or agency | Local time | UK time | New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 United StatesJobs, CPI, GDP, retail sales | 08:30 ET | 13:3012:30 in the October and March gap weeks | 08:30 |
| 🇺🇸 ISM manufacturing PMI | 10:00 ET | 15:00 | 10:00 |
| 🇺🇸 Federal Reserve decisionPress conference 30 minutes later | 14:00 ET | 19:0018:00 on 28 Oct 2026 | 14:00 |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom (ONS)GDP, CPI, jobs | 07:00 | 07:00 | 02:00 |
| 🇬🇧 Bank of England decision | 12:00 | 12:00 | 07:00 |
| 🇪🇺 Eurozone (Eurostat)Including flash inflation | 11:00 CET | 10:00 | 05:00 |
| 🇪🇺 ECB decisionPress conference 14:45 CET | 14:15 CET | 13:15 | 08:15 |
| 🇯🇵 JapanCPI and most data | 08:30 JST | 00:3023:30 the previous day in winter | Previous evening |
| 🇦🇺 Australia (ABS) | 11:30 | 01:30–02:30Depends on both countries' clocks | Previous evening |
| 🇨🇦 Canada (Statistics Canada) | 08:30 ET | 13:30 | 08:30 |
If you trade from the UK, the three windows that matter most are 07:00 for British data, 10:00 for eurozone figures and 13:30 for the US. Our forex market hours guide shows how these line up with the London and New York sessions.
Time zones and clock changes: why your calendar can look wrong
Most "the calendar is wrong" complaints come down to time zones. The TradingView calendar on this page shows times in your device's time zone automatically, so check that your phone or computer is set correctly before you trust a time.
Broker platforms add another layer: MetaTrader charts usually run on the broker's server time, often two or three hours ahead of UK time, so a release at 13:30 in London may appear as 15:30 or 16:30 on your chart.
The weeks when US and UK clocks disagree
UK and EU clocks go back on 25 October; US clocks go back on 1 November.
US data at 12:30 UK · Fed on 28 Oct at 18:00US clocks go forward on 14 March; the UK and EU on 28 March.
US data at 12:30 UKThe UK and EU go back on 31 October; the US on 7 November.
US data at 12:30 UKThe southern hemisphere moves the other way. New Zealand put its clocks forward on 27 September 2026 and most of Australia does so on 4 October, both returning on 4 April 2027. That is why Australian and New Zealand releases and decisions creep an hour or two earlier in UK time over the northern winter.
Why price sometimes moves the "wrong" way
New traders often see a strong number, buy the currency and watch it fall. That is not the market being irrational. Four things usually explain it.
If traders expected a strong figure, they bought beforehand. A number that merely matches the forecast leaves nothing new to buy, and early buyers take profit.
A headline beat can hide a weak detail, such as soft wage growth in a jobs report or a fall in core inflation behind a rise in the headline.
A good new month paired with a sharp downward revision to last month can add up to a disappointing picture.
A central bank that has already signalled its next move, or a risk-off day in global markets, can outweigh any single release.
The practical fix is to judge a release by the size of the surprise against the forecast, read the supporting details, and wait for the first spike to settle before deciding what the market really thinks.
Using the calendar for your trading style
Scalpers
Usually step aside for a few minutes around high-impact releases. Spreads widen and fills become unpredictable, which destroys the thin edge scalping relies on.
Day traders
Plan the session around the calendar: trade the calm before, stand aside at the release, then trade the direction once the first volatile minutes have passed.
Swing traders
Check the week ahead on Sunday and decide whether an open position can survive a rate decision or jobs report. Many reduce size or tighten risk before the biggest events rather than closing everything.
Prop firm traders
Read the firm's news rule before anything else. Many restrict opening or closing trades within a few minutes of high-impact releases, and breaking the rule can void an account even on a winning trade.
Automated traders
Expert advisors can use a news filter, or be switched off around the events the strategy was not tested on.
For a deeper look at specific approaches, see our guides to news trading strategies, trading FOMC decisions and CPI and inflation.
Spreads, slippage and gaps around the news
The biggest risk around a release is often not the direction but the execution. In the seconds around a major number, liquidity providers pull back, so three things happen.
A pair that normally costs a fraction of a pip can briefly cost several pips or more.
A market order or stop can fill some distance from the price you saw, in either direction.
The price can jump past your stop without trading at it, so the loss is larger than planned.
Size for the gap, not the stop. If a position would hurt you badly with double the slippage you expect, it is too big for a news event. Work out your size with our position size calculator and check the margin with the margin calculator before the release, not after it.
Broker choice matters here. Execution quality, how spreads behave in fast markets and whether you have negative balance protection all vary between firms. Our broker reviews and testing method cover these points, and you can compare two firms side by side on our comparison pages.
A simple weekly calendar routine
- Sunday: set the filters
Show high and medium impact only, for the currencies in the pairs you trade.
- Mark the big three
Note any rate decision, inflation release or jobs report, and the exact time in your time zone.
- Check open positions
Decide in advance whether each one stays open through those events, and at what size.
- Each morning: re-check
Speeches and unscheduled announcements get added during the week.
- Ten minutes before a release
No new positions, and no moving stops closer to the price.
- Afterwards: write it down
Record the actual, the forecast and what the pair did. After a few months you will know how each release tends to behave.
Economic calendar glossary
- Consensus
- The median forecast of economists surveyed before a release; the "Forecast" column.
- Core inflation
- Inflation excluding volatile food and energy prices, closely watched by central banks.
- Dovish / hawkish
- Leaning towards lower rates (dovish) or higher rates (hawkish).
- Flash estimate
- An early reading published before the full data is available.
- FOMC
- The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets US interest rates.
- MPC
- The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.
- NFP
- Non-farm payrolls, the headline jobs figure in the US employment report.
- PCE
- Personal consumption expenditures prices, the Fed's preferred inflation measure.
- PMI
- Purchasing Managers' Index; readings above 50 signal expansion.
- Revision
- A change to a previously published figure.
- Surprise
- The gap between the actual figure and the consensus; what markets react to.
Central bank decision dates, 2026–27
Rate decisions are the single biggest scheduled driver of currency prices, so they are worth marking months ahead. The table lists every remaining 2026 meeting and the full 2027 schedule for the eight central banks behind the major pairs, with the policy rate as of 27 September 2026.
- Announced
- 14:00 New York · 19:00 UK (18:00 on 28 Oct)
- Remaining 2026
- 28 Oct, 9 Dec
- 2027
- 27 Jan, 17 Mar, 28 Apr, 9 Jun, 28 Jul, 15 Sep, 27 Oct, 8 Dec
- Announced
- 14:15 Frankfurt · 13:15 UK
- Remaining 2026
- 29 Oct, 17 Dec
- 2027
- 4 Feb, 18 Mar, 29 Apr, 10 Jun, 22 Jul, 9 Sep, 28 Oct, 16 Dec
- Announced
- 12:00 UK
- Remaining 2026
- 5 Nov, 17 Dec
- 2027
- 4 Feb, 18 Mar, 29 Apr, 17 Jun, 29 Jul, 16 Sep, 4 Nov, 16 Dec
- Announced
- No fixed time, usually around midday Tokyo (about 03:00 UK)
- Remaining 2026
- 30 Oct, 18 Dec
- 2027
- 22 Jan, 18 Mar, 28 Apr, 11 Jun, 22 Jul, 22 Sep, 29 Oct, 17 Dec
- Announced
- 14:30 Sydney · 03:30 to 05:30 UK
- Remaining 2026
- 29 Sep, 3 Nov, 8 Dec
- 2027
- 9 Feb, 23 Mar, 4 May, 22 Jun, 10 Aug, 28 Sep, 2 Nov, 14 Dec
- Announced
- 09:45 Ottawa · 14:45 UK (13:45 on 28 Oct)
- Remaining 2026
- 28 Oct, 9 Dec
- 2027
- 27 Jan, 3 Mar, 28 Apr, 2 Jun, 21 Jul, 8 Sep, 27 Oct, 8 Dec
- Announced
- 09:30 Zurich · 08:30 UK
- Remaining 2026
- 10 Dec
- 2027
- 18 Mar, 24 Jun, 23 Sep, 16 Dec
- Announced
- 14:00 Wellington · 01:00 UK
- Remaining 2026
- 28 Oct, 9 Dec
- 2027
- 10 Feb, 17 Mar, 5 May, 16 Jun, 4 Aug, 15 Sep, 27 Oct, 8 Dec
Sources: federalreserve.gov, ecb.europa.eu, bankofengland.co.uk, boj.or.jp, rba.gov.au, bankofcanada.ca, snb.ch and rbnz.govt.nz, checked 27 September 2026. Central banks occasionally move a meeting or add an unscheduled one, so confirm the date on the live calendar in the week it happens. The RBNZ moves to eight decisions a year from 2027.
Economic calendar FAQs
What is a forex economic calendar?
It is a schedule of upcoming economic data releases, central bank decisions and speeches that can move currency prices. Each entry shows the release time, its expected importance, the consensus forecast, the previous figure and, once published, the actual result.
How do I read actual, forecast and previous?
The forecast is what economists expected, the previous is last period's figure, and the actual is the new number. Markets react mainly to the gap between actual and forecast. A result far above or below the forecast tends to move prices most, while a figure in line with it often causes little reaction.
What do the impact levels mean?
They grade how much an event has moved prices in the past. High-impact events such as rate decisions, inflation and the US jobs report can cause sharp moves and wider spreads. Medium and low impact events usually move prices less, though any release can matter if the central bank is focused on it.
Which events have the biggest impact on forex?
Central bank rate decisions and press conferences, inflation (CPI), the US non-farm payrolls report, GDP and, to a lesser extent, retail sales and PMI surveys. US releases carry extra weight because the dollar is involved in most currency trades.
What time is NFP in UK time?
The US jobs report is published at 08:30 New York time, which is 13:30 in the UK for most of the year. During the weeks when US and UK clocks change on different dates, such as 25 October to 1 November 2026, it lands at 12:30 UK time instead.
Why does the calendar show a different time from my broker's chart?
The TradingView calendar uses your device's time zone, while MetaTrader and similar platforms usually show the broker's server time, often two or three hours ahead of the UK. Check your device's time zone setting and your broker's server offset, and watch for the clock-change weeks.
When is the next Fed, ECB or Bank of England decision?
The Federal Reserve decides on 28 October and 9 December 2026, the ECB on 29 October and 17 December, and the Bank of England on 5 November and 17 December. You will find the full 2026 and 2027 schedule for eight central banks in the table on this page.
Why did the currency fall when the data beat the forecast?
Usually because the good news was already priced in, the details were weaker than the headline, the previous month was revised down, or a bigger theme such as central bank guidance outweighed the release. Judge the whole release against expectations rather than the headline alone.
Should beginners trade high-impact news?
Most beginners are better off watching major releases rather than trading them. Spreads widen, orders can slip and prices can gap past stop losses. Practise reading the calendar, note how pairs react, and trade calmer conditions until you have a tested plan.
Which economic calendar is the most accurate?
The figures on any reputable calendar come from the same official sources: statistics agencies and central banks. Differences are mostly in presentation, time zone settings and how quickly results appear. For the final word on a figure, the issuing agency's own release is the authority.
How often should I check the economic calendar?
Review the week ahead at the weekend, then check each morning for changes and newly added speeches. Before placing any trade, look at the next few hours for releases involving either currency in the pair.
Should swing traders close trades before major news?
Not necessarily, but they should decide in advance. Many reduce position size or accept that a stop may slip, rather than closing everything. The key is sizing so that a gap through your stop would still be an acceptable loss.
Why do spreads widen during news, and can my stop be skipped?
Liquidity providers pull back around major releases, so the gap between buy and sell prices widens. If the price jumps, a standard stop fills at the next available price, which can be worse than the level you set. Guaranteed stops, where offered, avoid this for a fee.