What is the Forex Economic Calendar?

Last updated: 28.02.2023
Dominic Hawker
Author:
Dominic Hawker
Adviser
CFD & Trading
Experience
> 30 years

Along with PayPal Forex Brokers, the Forex calendar is one of the key tools in Forex trading which really opens the market up to novices. The prices of currency pairs do not move up and down completely randomly. You can get a refresher of how these work by reading our detailed What is Forex? guide.

Their values are influenced by a huge number of political, social, economic and environmental factors every day. The Forex calendar highlights the majority of these key events in each market to help traders gain an understanding of when and why a market might move, which will help facilitate their trades on the nextmarkets platform.

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What is the Forex calendar?

A Forex calendar is a list of important events which might affect the Forex market across the world. As the value of a currency is so linked to its country’s economic performance, it is important to know when the most influential events and news releases are expected, so that traders can be prepared for movements in the markets.

Knowing when macroeconomic events are going to take place allows traders to plan and strategize future market entrances and exits. For traders, ignoring the forex calendar can have a detrimental effect on their trading strategy. There are key events that trigger certain responses to the forex markets, and by paying close attention to these, traders can focus more closely on their deals. The forex calendar has a direct impact on a trader’s strategy and when to make certain moves on their nextmarkets account.

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Looking back with nextmarkets

The calendar is also important for analysing markets retrospectively. When learning to trade, along with practising with a nextmarkets Forex demo account, looking back at previous market data is an invaluable exercise in learning how to read where the markets might be heading.

There are many strategies, signals and indicators which can be analysed simply by looking at the price movement in the markets, however, these will only ever tell part of the story when it comes to the Forex market. Being able to see a historical record of macroeconomic events on the Forex calendar will help you in learning how the markets respond to certain political decisions or news releases.

Let the Forex economic calendar make life easy

An economic calendar is a tool designed to take some of the pain away from investors, enabling traders to keep up to date with all of the latest macroeconomic news all in one place. It collates all news releases, political decisions, report publications, national elections and more into a single place so that it is easy to keep up to date with all Forex markets all at once.

As well as one-off events, the Forex calendar also displays important economic statistics through the nextmarkets platform, such as interest rates, insurance prices and economic growth. They are regularly updated, usually at least once an hour, to ensure that information is as accurate as possible.

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How to use the nextmarkets Forex market calendar

The Forex calendar is undoubtedly a powerful tool, but what is the best way to use it? The best Forex broker will check the calendar every day in the morning to start the trading day with an idea of the major news reports being released that day for which currencies. Traders will then need to make a decision about whether the upcoming macroeconomic events are likely to have a positive or negative effect on their current open positions and access their nextmarkets accounts accordingly to make changes if needed.

With most numbers which are due to be released, the Forex calendar will have a forecast figure. A currency is most likely to be affected if the reported figure is significantly higher or lower than the forecasted figure. Traders should have an action plan as to what do in either scenario if they choose to wait until the information is released before acting.

Fact Check

The Forex calendar is a vital tool for Forex traders all over the world, but don’t get your facts mixed up.

  •  Not every currency pair will have an entry on the Forex calendar each day
  • The Forex calendar will display the time of announcements in whichever time zone you set it to, not necessarily the time zone where the announcement is being made
  • Announcements on the calendar can and will affect the markets in both directions, be prepared for a move either way on your nextmarkets account

Economics 101

To get the most out of the Forex calendar as a tool on nextmarkets, it will help traders to have a basic understanding of macroeconomics. Understanding the impact of economic growth, a rising unemployment rate and/or an increase in the consumer price index, for example, could all impact the perceived value of a country’s currency.

Understanding the relationship between these economic factors and how they impact exchange rates is vital to being able to use the Forex calendar to predict movements in the price of currencies. Anticipating the volatility of the market following these kinds of announcements is essential in order to benefit from trading opportunities before everyone else.

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Forex calendars and the productivity report

The productivity report measures the levels of output in the economy, calculated using historical GDP and labour figures. It looks at the output of individual organizations per unit of labour that they employ. This is a measure of the productivity of a nation. Increases in productivity can often lead to increases in income, corporate profitability and reduced inflation.

It is calculated using a series of complicated algorithms, which would be difficult to replicate by a single individual speculating on the Forex market. It is a really useful resource which can often be found and used alongside the Forex calendar on nextmarkets to predict the potential movements of a currency pair.

The UK’s Forex trading calendar

The UK Forex economic calendar will not only include all of the major information, such as GDP and inflation reports, but also details which are only relevant to the UK. For example, a good Forex calendar will include the dates of key decisions around Brexit, as well as any national holidays, government elections, the UK budget release and reports from the Office for National Statistics.

There are very few events which will take place on the same day in more than a couple of countries, so it is worth sticking to trading with just one or two currency pairs when you are starting out on the nextmarkets trading app. Otherwise, it would be far too time-consuming to keep up-to-date with the current affairs of more than three countries at once.

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How can I trade Forex on nextmarkets without a Forex calendar?

Forex trading on nextmarkets without referencing a Forex calendar would be like driving blindfolded. Whilst there must be some traders out there speculating on the Forex market without referencing a Forex calendar, this is akin to wild gambling.

Without a calendar of relevant events, it would be impossible to look out for macroeconomic Forex signals and make informed decisions about when to enter and exit trades. Forex calendars allow you to react quickly to changes in the market conditions, by being prepared in advance for what might happen. Most experienced traders will check the calendar several times a day and make a note of any updates.

Personalise your calendar

Forex calendars display a lot of information, too much information for one person to consume. Don’t feel that you have to sit and sift through all of the records pertaining to each and every currency. The Forex calendar is designed so that you can filter and personalise your view one nextmarkets so that you only have to look at what is relevant to you. In addition to this, you can filter by:

  • Market – only look at reports relating to the currencies you wish to trade
  • Date – do you want to see today’s reports, or look further ahead?
  • Topic – are you only interested in reports relating to taxes, corporations or unemployment? Filter by the Forex indicators which interest you most. The filters allow you to find what is useful far more easily and efficiently than scrolling through the whole global calendar.
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Make a Forex Calendar Glossary

The Forex calendar is a great place for finding out what you know about economics, and your level of understanding of the Forex market in general. When you first open the calendar, have a browse and read some of the entries with names which are unfamiliar to you.

You will start to pick up a lot of new and useful vocabulary this way, as well as stumbling across reports which you never knew existed. A recommendation from Forex trading for beginners on nextmarkets is to keep a note of the words which are unfamiliar to you, so that you can reference it if you come across the same report again in a month’s time.

Forex calendar strategies on nextmarkets

There are so many different Forex trading strategies out there, and every experienced trader will have his or her preferred strategy for trading on the Forex market. What all legitimate Forex trading strategies have in common is their reliance on the Forex calendar. Some trading strategies might only require a light touch approach to the calendar, whilst others will reference it almost religiously.

These strategies usually revolve around taking external macroeconomic factors as indicators of when to sell and buy different currencies, rather than opting for a more mathematical approach. It is up to you to decide which strategy you prefer, but it is recommended that you always have a Forex calendar to hand when you trade on nextmarkets, whatever strategy you choose.

Did you know

The Forex trading calendar is a hugely important and useful tool, but do you know everything about it?

  •  Although Forex calendars display information about lots of markets, you can filter to only see events affecting the market you are interested in.
  • The Forex calendar will show you historical as well as future data helping you to get a better understanding of why a market price moved in a certain direction
  • Forex calendars are updated regularly, usually at least once an hour which is perfect for nextmarket traders

Forex Calendar acronyms debunked with nextmarkets

There are some key pieces of macroeconomic terminology which are vital to understanding before you can make the most of the Forex calendar or the nextmarkets Forex signals app. These include:

  • CCI (Consumer confidence index): survey results from more than 5,000 households across the country, measuring the average level of consumer confidence and their spending power.
  • CPI (consumer price index): a measure of inflation which is calculated using reports in the average price of products and services in more than 200 categories.
  • GDP (gross domestic product): an indicator of a country’s economic growth. It is calculated using a country’s income, output and expenditure.
  • PPI (producer price index): a measure of the change in selling prices of goods and services by domestic producers across industries such as energy, agriculture and manufacturing.
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Will the Forex calendar tell me when to trade?

You don’t always need to have a thorough understanding of the reports that are being released in order to use the Forex calendar to your trading advantage on nextmarkets. Often, it is enough to know when the biggest reports are due, or when the big announcements are likely to be made.

Knowing when these moments are coming will narrow down the windows in which you will want to trade, you then just need to determine what your cue to enter or exit the market will be before or after this announcement. You can use a Forex trading app to notify you when the market meets your criteria for trading in the window around the announcement.

Forex Factory Calendar: defined

The Forex Factory calendar is one of the Forex calendars available on the internet. It is described as being “famously reliable” and for this reason is one of the most popular, and certainly one of the most widely known, Forex calendars available.

It is kept up to date, and contains information regarding even some of the more obscure currency pairs on the Forex market. The information is varied and broad, and you will also find articles and market analysis and insight on the page, displayed alongside the raw facts and figures. The factory calendar is often to go-to for traders, whether they’re new to trading or experienced traders. Traders can use this information in conjunction with the nextmarkets library for an optimal trading experience.

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Day trading with the Forex trade calendar

The forex trading hours are a critical component in day trading, as day traders need to make the most of a very short timeframe. Day trading (s. also our guide What is Day Trading?) is the practice of opening and closing positions on a market on the same day. Day trading is all about risk management, as you have to act quickly with large amounts of money in order to make any real profits in a short space of time. You can learn more about this in our day trading for beginners guide.

The Forex calendar can help day traders to predict periods of high market volatility, usually in the lead up to or immediately following a big political or economic announcement. Knowing when the market is likely to be most volatile will signpost to day traders when they need to have their “finger on the trigger” to start opening and closing trades and make the most of opportunities on nextmarkets.

Who needs to use the Forex calendar?

It doesn’t matter whether you are just starting out in Forex trading, or whether you are an experienced, seasoned trader; you can still benefit hugely from the Forex calendar. Having all of this vital information in one place takes the strain away from the individual, helping you to make smarter trading decisions much more quickly and efficiently.

With the combination of the Forex calendar and free forex software, you’ll have a solid foundation for your trading decisions, helping you to make more profitable trades going forward. The forex trading calendar is still part of the arsenal of some of the oldest forex traders, which makes it a necessity for every trader who wishes to have a healthy nextmarkets portfolio.

Get revising with nextmarkets!

If you haven’t already brushed up on your basic understanding of macroeconomic factors, now is the time to do so. You’ll never be able to advance to the levels of a competent Forex trader if you are unable to understand the potential consequences of the events marked on the Forex calendar. With just a basic understanding of these guiding macroeconomic factors, you’ll be able to use the Forex calendar to make smarter decisions about when to open or close your positions on the Forex market through nextmarkets, maximising your potential profits and minimizing your losses. It will also set you up in a good routine.

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