Short answer
Check the calendar before every trading session. Mark high-impact events for the currencies you trade, note the release time in your local zone, and decide in advance whether to reduce risk or stay out.
Live this-week + next-week events
Forex Economic Calendar 2026
Live forex news calendar for the next two weeks: high-impact releases such as NFP, FOMC, CPI and GDP, with forecast versus previous figures in your local time.
- 17 events today
- 4 High-impact
- Your local time
Key Takeaways
- High-impact events such as NFP, CPI, FOMC and GDP create the most volatility in USD pairs and gold.
- Times are stored in UTC and converted in your browser to local time. Compare forecast versus previous before the number is released.
- Use the calendar to time risk: reduce size or stay flat around tier-one releases rather than treating the print as a buy or sell signal.
How to use a forex economic calendar
Use the calendar as a volatility map, not as a buy or sell signal. The five points below give you a practical pre-trade routine.
- 1 Scan today's high-impact list
Open the calendar and note every high-impact event for the currencies you trade.
- 2 Filter by impact and currency
Use the High filter and your pair's currency so only market-moving releases remain.
- 3 Check local time and forecast
Confirm the release time in your timezone and compare the forecast with the previous reading.
- 4 Set a risk plan
Decide before the number whether to stay flat, cut size, or wait for spreads to normalise.
Detailed explanation
Impact shows the event's typical volatility potential, while forecast and previous provide context for market expectations. Price often reacts most strongly when the actual release differs materially from the forecast. Direction is not guaranteed because positioning, revisions and central-bank guidance also matter.
Example
If US CPI is marked high impact at 08:30 New York time, USD pairs and gold may become volatile around the release. A trader can avoid a new entry just before the number, wait for spreads to normalize, then reassess the setup.
Common mistake
Treating a better-than-forecast number as an automatic buy signal. Markets can reverse when the result was already priced in or when other details in the release change the interpretation.
Professional tip
Create a daily no-trade window around tier-one releases and set alerts before the event. Review forecast revisions and the previous reading, then confirm liquidity and spread conditions in your platform.
Pre-news checklist
- Identify high-impact events for the pairs you trade
- Convert each release to local time
- Note forecast and previous figures
- Define a no-trade window around the print
- Confirm spread and slippage conditions on your platform
Calendar terms
- Impact
- Typical volatility potential of the release: high, medium or low.
- Forecast
- The market's consensus expectation for the upcoming figure.
- Previous
- The prior period's published reading.
- High
- Events that routinely move major forex pairs and gold, such as NFP, CPI and central-bank decisions.
Economic releases can cause rapid price moves, gaps, slippage and wider spreads. This calendar is educational information, not financial advice or a guarantee of market direction.
Economic Calendar FAQ
Direct answers to the most common questions about event impact, forecast data, time zones and news-trading risk.
A forex economic calendar lists scheduled economic data releases and central-bank events — such as interest-rate decisions, inflation (CPI), employment (NFP) and GDP — with the date, time, expected (forecast) value and the previous reading. Traders use it to anticipate volatility and avoid being caught off guard by news.
The highest-impact releases are central-bank rate decisions (FOMC, ECB, BoE), the US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP), inflation reports (CPI/PPI), GDP and PMI surveys. These are flagged as high impact (red) on the calendar above because they routinely cause sharp moves in pairs like EUR/USD and in gold (XAU/USD).
Forecast is the market's consensus expectation for the release, and Previous is the prior period's actual figure. When the released number differs sharply from the forecast (a 'surprise'), volatility tends to spike — that gap is what traders watch most closely.
Event times are stored in UTC and automatically converted to your device's local time zone in your browser. If JavaScript is disabled, times are shown in UTC and labelled accordingly.
Many traders avoid opening new positions in the minutes around a high-impact release because spreads can widen and price can gap. With an XM account (from $5, partner code FXTRD) you can monitor these events, set alerts and manage risk with stop-losses. Trading the news is high risk — never risk more than you can afford to lose.
The calendar refreshes automatically several times a day from a public economic-events feed, covering the current week and the week ahead. The 'Last updated' timestamp under the table shows when the data was last refreshed.