The economic calendar is the backbone of any short-term trading plan. It tells you when liquidity will thin out, when spreads will widen and when a position that looked safe five minutes ago can gap through a stop. Filter by country and importance, and check it before every session.
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How to read the calendar
Each row carries four numbers that matter: the actual reading once it is published, the consensus forecast economists submitted beforehand, the previous print, and any revision to that previous figure. Markets trade the gap between actual and consensus, not the headline number in isolation. A 3.1% inflation print is bullish for a currency if the street expected 2.8%, and bearish if the street expected 3.4%.
Impact ratings
- High — central bank decisions, policy statements and press conferences, CPI, employment reports and GDP. Expect immediate repricing and widened spreads for several minutes.
- Medium — PMIs, retail sales, industrial production, trade balances. Usually good for a directional move of moderate size, especially when they confirm an existing trend.
- Low — second-tier surveys and revisions. Rarely move price on their own but can matter when they cluster.
Sessions that matter most
European data lands between 07:00 and 10:00 GMT, US data mostly at 12:30 and 14:00 GMT, and the Asia-Pacific block sits between 22:00 and 02:00 GMT. The London and New York overlap, roughly 12:00 to 16:00 GMT, is when volume peaks and the day’s range is most often set.
Community positioning
Retail sentiment is a useful contrarian input around high-impact releases. The widget below shows how the wider trading community is positioned on the majors.
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