MetaTrader 4 Tips & Tricks: 31 Shortcuts and Features (2026)
October 22, 2026
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Every scheduled interest rate decision, inflation report and jobs release that can move the forex market, with live actual, forecast and previous figures shown in your own time zone. Filter by currency and impact, then use the guide below to understand what each release means.
Calendar data supplied by TradingView and shown in your local time zone. Forecasts are economists' consensus estimates and can change before a release. Times and figures should be checked against official sources before you act on them.
An economic calendar is a schedule of data releases and central bank announcements. Each row tells you when something will be published, which currency it affects, how much it usually moves the market, and what the figure was compared with what was expected. These are the columns you will see:
The single most useful idea: markets react to surprises, not to numbers. Prices already reflect what traders expect, so a release that matches the forecast often causes little movement. The bigger the gap between actual and forecast, the bigger the reaction tends to be.
Inflation came in well above what economists expected. Traders may conclude the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer, which often strengthens the dollar, so EURUSD and GBPUSD could fall. This is a typical reaction, not a rule: the figures here are illustrative, and markets can move the other way if other information outweighs the headline number.
Calendars rate each event by how much it typically moves prices. The rating is a guide based on past reactions, not a promise of what will happen this time.
| Impact | What it usually means | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| High | Can move major pairs sharply within seconds; spreads often widen | Central bank rate decisions, US Non-Farm Payrolls, CPI inflation |
| Medium | Noticeable moves, especially if the figure surprises | PMI surveys, retail sales, GDP, central bank speeches |
| Low | Rarely moves major pairs on its own | Minor surveys, smaller regional data, bond auctions |
Every major currency has a handful of releases that matter most. Interest rates sit at the centre: currencies tend to strengthen when traders expect rates in that country to rise, or stay higher, compared with elsewhere.
| Currency | Central bank | Releases to watch |
|---|---|---|
| USD US dollar | Federal Reserve (FOMC) | FOMC decisions, Non-Farm Payrolls, CPI and PCE inflation, retail sales, ISM surveys, GDP |
| EUR Euro | European Central Bank | ECB decisions, flash HICP inflation, PMI surveys, GDP, German Ifo and ZEW surveys |
| GBP British pound | Bank of England | MPC decisions, CPI inflation, labour market and wages, GDP, retail sales |
| JPY Japanese yen | Bank of Japan | BoJ decisions, Tokyo CPI, national CPI, wage data |
| AUD Australian dollar | Reserve Bank of Australia | RBA decisions, CPI, employment |
| CAD Canadian dollar | Bank of Canada | BoC decisions, employment, CPI |
| CHF Swiss franc | Swiss National Bank | SNB decisions, CPI |
| NZD New Zealand dollar | Reserve Bank of New Zealand | RBNZ decisions, CPI, employment |
Because the US dollar is on one side of most major pairs, US releases tend to move almost everything. If you trade EURUSD or GBPUSD, use the EUR & USD or GBP & USD filter above to see only the events that matter for your pair.
Rate decisions are the biggest scheduled events for any currency, and the decision itself is often only half the story. Traders also read the statement, the vote split and the press conference for clues about what comes next.
The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England each set rates eight times a year, and the European Central Bank meets about every six weeks. The calendar above lists the next meetings for each.
Most official statistics come out at the same time of day, so it helps to know the usual slots. The calendar always shows the exact time.
| Release | Usual UK time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UK data (ONS) | 07:00 | Inflation, GDP, labour market and more, before the London open |
| Eurozone data (Eurostat) | 10:00 | Including flash HICP inflation |
| Bank of England decision | 12:00 | Decision, minutes and vote split published together |
| ECB decision | 13:15, press conference 13:45 | The press conference often moves the euro more than the decision |
| Major US data | 13:30 | Non-Farm Payrolls, CPI, retail sales, GDP (8:30am New York time) |
| FOMC decision | 19:00, press conference 19:30 | 2pm New York time; can move markets late in the UK day |
For a few weeks each spring and autumn the UK, US and eurozone change their clocks on different dates, and these slots shift by an hour. Check the calendar for the exact time.
Big releases change how the market behaves for a short time, and that affects every trader, whether you trade by hand or with an Expert Advisor:
Use the pip value calculator to see what a few extra pips of slippage would cost on your trade size, and the drawdown calculator to see how a run of losses affects an account.
An Expert Advisor (EA) follows its rules regardless of what is on the calendar, unless it has been built with a news filter. That makes the calendar just as useful for EA users as for manual traders. Before running any EA live, it is worth knowing:
Nexus is a rules-based Expert Advisor for EURUSD and GBPUSD in MetaTrader 4 or 5. The best way to judge any EA is to see how it handles weeks with big events. Run Nexus on your own demo account for 60 days, free, and compare it with our public real-money EURUSD account on Myfxbook, including its losing periods and drawdown.
Ten minutes at the start of each week is enough to avoid most nasty surprises.
A forex economic calendar lists scheduled economic releases and central bank decisions, with the time, the country and currency affected, how much market impact each event usually has, and the actual, forecast and previous figures. Traders use it to know when prices are likely to move sharply.
Actual is the figure just released. Forecast (or consensus) is the average expectation of economists surveyed before the release. Previous is the last period's figure, which is sometimes revised. Markets usually react to the gap between actual and forecast, not to the number itself.
Central bank interest rate decisions, inflation (CPI) reports and jobs data move currencies most. For the US dollar, the Federal Reserve's FOMC decisions, Non-Farm Payrolls and CPI are the biggest scheduled events. For the euro and pound, ECB and Bank of England decisions and inflation data matter most.
Most major US data, including Non-Farm Payrolls and CPI, is released at 8:30am New York time, which is 13:30 UK time for most of the year. FOMC decisions are announced at 2pm New York time, usually 19:00 UK time. Times shift by an hour for a few weeks in spring and autumn when the US and UK change their clocks on different dates.
Yes. The calendar on this page displays event times in your device's time zone, so you do not need to convert them.
Several reasons are common: the market had already expected a stronger or weaker figure than the published forecast, the previous figure was revised, another number in the same report mattered more, or comments from a central bank changed the outlook. A single release rarely tells the whole story.
That is a personal decision and this page is not advice. Be aware that spreads often widen and prices can jump past your stop level around high-impact releases, so losses can be larger than planned. Many traders reduce position size, avoid opening new trades or pause automated systems around these events.
