JohnVIKTOR EPERJESY 
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• Current Job: Head of Business Development at Trade Proofer
• Career: Passionate about forex trading since college. Co-founder of Trade Proofer community. 

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As we all know, forex brokers' information sheets listing "target spreads" are not something traders can rely on when they trade around important economic events, like Non-Farm Payrolls. During these minutes spreads first fall apart and recover slowly afterwards as market calms down. As a courtesy of the TradeProofer community our readers can get a better picture of what has happened recently after the May non-farm payroll announcement. TradeProofer is a forex trader community aspiring to benchmark community members' uploaded quotes and trade executions in order to spot outlier trade executions or requotes. The below chart is based on their community data.

spreads brokers nfp eurusd

The chart shows how several brokers' EURUSD spreads looked at-around the NFP announcement, time is in GMT. The red line represents the most scrambled situation at 12:32, when aggregated spreads got the widest. The brokers are ordered by their 12:32 spreads, thus tightest brokers are on the left, least competitive brokers are on the right. Apparently, some brokers decided to sit on the bench until situation calmed down.

Limitations apply, however. Commissions are not taken into account so the chart does not reflect overall competitiveness of brokers, but rather an impression on how spread volatility unfolded and how particular brokers handle economic events. Also, a competitive quote doesn’t mean competitive fill price. Slippage due to low liquidity and/or latency is frequent especially around such events.

The next chart shows how EURSD spreads got somewhat wider right before the economic event, how they sky-rocketed right after the announcement and how they consolidated after a couple of minutes at a slightly higher level. The y axis shows the actual aggregated spread of 90+ brokers expressed in percentage of its 12:25 value. In plain English, the peak around 500% means that the monitored 90+ brokers’ spreads got 5x wider at the busiest time.

EURUSD spreads NFP may

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Editors’ Picks

EUR/USD clings to small gains near 1.1750

EUR/USD clings to small gains near 1.1750

Following a short-lasting correction in the early European session, EUR/USD regains its traction and clings to moderate gains at around 1.1750 on Monday. Nevertheless, the pair's volatility remains low, with investors awaiting this weeks key data releases from the US and the ECB policy announcements.

GBP/USD remains confined in a range above mid-1.3300s ahead of UK jobs report

GBP/USD remains confined in a range above mid-1.3300s ahead of UK jobs report

The GBP/USD pair extends its sideways consolidative price move through the Asian session on Tuesday and currently trades around the 1.3370-1.3365 region, nearly unchanged for the day. Traders seem reluctant and opt to wait for this week's important macro releases and the key central bank event risk before placing fresh directional bets.

USD/JPY stays in the red below 155.00 amid BoJ rate hike bets, US data awaited

USD/JPY stays in the red below 155.00 amid BoJ rate hike bets, US data awaited

USD/JPY holds moderate losses below 155.00 in the Asian session on Tuesday.  The Japanese Yen gains ground on expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates at the upcoming policy meeting on Friday. Traders will closely monitor key US data, including Nonfarm Payrolls, Retail Sales, and Purchasing Managers Index, which are due later in the day. 


Editors’ Picks

AUD/USD falls toward 0.6600 amid risk aversion

AUD/USD falls toward 0.6600 amid risk aversion

AUD/USD drops toward 0.6600 in Asian trading on Tuesday, as recent mixed Australian labour market data and renewed concerns about the health of the Chinese economy undermine the Aussie amid a softer risk tone and a pause in the US Dollar decline. Traders now look to the delayed US NFP report for some impetus.

USD/JPY stays in the red below 155.00 amid BoJ rate hike bets, US data awaited

USD/JPY stays in the red below 155.00 amid BoJ rate hike bets, US data awaited

USD/JPY holds moderate losses below 155.00 in the Asian session on Tuesday.  The Japanese Yen gains ground on expectations that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates at the upcoming policy meeting on Friday. Traders will closely monitor key US data, including Nonfarm Payrolls, Retail Sales, and Purchasing Managers Index, which are due later in the day. 

Gold defends $4,300 as focus shifts to US NFP, PMI data

Gold defends $4,300 as focus shifts to US NFP, PMI data

Gold price holds the $4,300 level, easing from the highest since October 21 in the Asian trading hours on Tuesday. The precious metal stays afloat on further US Federal Reserve rate cut bets. The US Nonfarm Payrolls report will take center stage later on Tuesday. Also, the US Retail Sales and Purchasing Managers Index will be published. 

Top Crypto Losers: Aster, Midnight, and Ethena extend losses as selling pressure mounts

Top Crypto Losers: Aster, Midnight, and Ethena extend losses as selling pressure mounts

Aster, Midnight, and Ethena are the altcoins with the most losses over the last 24 hours, as the broader cryptocurrency market weakens amid Bitcoin dropping below $86,000.

NFP preview: Complex data release will determine if Fed was right to cut rates

NFP preview: Complex data release will determine if Fed was right to cut rates

The long wait is over, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US will release nonfarm payrolls reports for both November and October at 1330 GMT on Tuesday. The overall NFP figure for October is expected to be -10k, however, it is expected to be influenced by a massive 130k drop in federal department workers. 

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