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 stuck in familiar territory ahead of NFP Friday

EUR/USD stuck in familiar territory ahead of NFP Friday

EUR/USD trimmed further into the bearish side on Thursday, falling back a scant but persistent sixth of a percent and keeping bids nailed to the 1.0300 handle as the pair churns near 26-month lows. 

EUR/USD News
GBP/USD taps new 14-month low as NFP watch begins

GBP/USD taps new 14-month low as NFP watch begins

GBP/USD tapped a fresh 14-month low on Thursday as the Pound Sterling rolls over further against the Greenback. Holiday-thinned markets are keeping one foot firmly in the safe haven US Dollar as investors await a fresh round of US Nonfarm Payrolls data on Friday.

GBP/USD News
USD/JPY bulls take a breather above 158.00 ahead of US NFP

USD/JPY bulls take a breather above 158.00 ahead of US NFP

USD/JPY takes a breather above 158.00 following the release of household spending data from Japan, slightly off the multi-month top amid wavering BoJ rate hike expectations. However, the widening of the US-Japan yield differential keeps the pair supported amid a bullish US Dollar. US NFP data awaited. 

USD/JPY News

Editors’ Picks

AUD/USD side-lines near 0.6200 as traders await US NFP report

AUD/USD side-lines near 0.6200 as traders await US NFP report

AUD/USD consolidates near 0.6200 early Friday, just above its lowest level since October 2022 as traders move to the sidelines ahead of Friday's closely-watched US NFP data releae. Meanwhile, rising bets for an early RBA rate cut, China's economic woes and US-Sino trade war fears act as a headwind for the Aussie. 

AUD/USD News
USD/JPY bulls take a breather above 158.00 ahead of US NFP

USD/JPY bulls take a breather above 158.00 ahead of US NFP

USD/JPY takes a breather above 158.00 following the release of household spending data from Japan, slightly off the multi-month top amid wavering BoJ rate hike expectations. However, the widening of the US-Japan yield differential keeps the pair supported amid a bullish US Dollar. US NFP data awaited. 

USD/JPY News
Gold price consolidates below multi-week top; looks to US NFP for fresh impetus

Gold price consolidates below multi-week top; looks to US NFP for fresh impetus

Gold price enters a bullish consolidation phase below a four-week top touched at $2,678 on Thursday as bulls await the US NFP report before placing fresh bets. In the meantime, geopolitical risks, trade war fears and a weaker risk tone might continue to act as a tailwind for the safe-haven XAU/USD. 

Gold News
Ripple's XRP plunges over 4% following funding rates decline

Ripple's XRP plunges over 4% following funding rates decline

Ripple's XRP declined 4% on Friday following a decline in its funding rates. The remittance-based token could decline to test the $2.17 support level if the crypto market decline extends.

Read more
How to trade NFP, one of the most volatile events

How to trade NFP, one of the most volatile events Premium

NFP is the acronym for Nonfarm Payrolls, arguably the most important economic data release in the world. The indicator, which provides a comprehensive snapshot of the health of the US labor market, is typically published on the first Friday of each month.

Read more

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