News Trading in Forex (2026): Execution Speed, Slippage and What to Look For
BY TIOmarkets
|March 8, 2026News trading is one of the most demanding approaches in forex. Major economic releases, central bank decisions, and geopolitical events can move currency pairs sharply and rapidly, creating both opportunity and significant risk in a very short window of time. Understanding how execution works around these events, and what to look for in a broker, is essential before trading the news.
At TIOmarkets, we offer execution in milliseconds, variable spreads across four account types, and access to both MT4 and MT5, with the full range of order types needed to approach news events with defined risk parameters.
What Is News Trading in Forex?
News trading refers to taking positions in currency pairs around scheduled or unscheduled market-moving events. The most commonly traded events include:
- Central bank rate decisions (Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England, Reserve Bank of Australia, Bank of Japan, and others)
- Non-farm payrolls and employment data
- Consumer price index (CPI) and inflation releases
- GDP figures
- Retail sales and manufacturing data
- Geopolitical developments and unscheduled announcements
These events can cause rapid and significant price moves in affected currency pairs within seconds of the release. The challenge for traders is that the same conditions that create large moves, sudden volatility and wide price swings, also make execution less predictable.
How Price Moves During News Events
During normal market conditions, price moves incrementally as buyers and sellers interact in a continuous auction. During a major data release, this process can compress dramatically. A significant surprise relative to market expectations can cause price to gap or move through multiple levels rapidly before liquidity returns to normal.
The result for traders is that the price at which an order is executed may differ from the price at which it was placed. This is slippage.
At TIOmarkets, orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. Positive slippage means your order fills at a better price than requested. Negative slippage means it fills at a worse price. Both are possible during news events, and both are a function of market conditions rather than broker policy.
Understanding this before entering a news trade is important. A stop loss order will still execute around a data release, but the fill price may differ from the stop level set, particularly if price moves rapidly through that level.
Spreads Around News Releases
Variable spreads are standard in the retail forex market, and they widen during periods of volatility and reduced liquidity. This is a direct result of the underlying market conditions: when price is moving rapidly and liquidity providers are widening their own quotes, the spread available to retail traders widens in turn.
This matters for news traders because the cost of entering or exiting a trade at the moment of a release may be significantly higher than the spread seen during normal market hours. Spreads will typically be higher than the minimum figures shown on any account type at TIOmarkets, and this is particularly true immediately before and after major economic releases.
Traders who plan to enter at the moment of a release should account for wider spreads in their risk calculations. Those who prefer to wait for the initial move to settle before entering may find that spreads normalise relatively quickly after the release, though this varies with the significance of the event and the degree of surprise.
Execution Speed and Why It Matters for News Trading
Execution speed refers to the time between placing an order and receiving a fill confirmation. At TIOmarkets, orders are processed in milliseconds across all account types.
For news traders, execution speed matters because price can move significantly in a short time around a release. A slower execution environment increases the likelihood that the price at which your order fills differs from the price at which it was placed. Faster execution reduces, but does not eliminate, this risk.
It is important to understand that execution speed is only one part of the equation. Even with fast execution, a market moving rapidly through multiple price levels simultaneously means that the concept of a single "fill price" becomes complex. The best available price at the moment of fill may still differ materially from the price quoted at the moment of order submission.
Order Types for News Trading
The MT4 and MT5 platforms available at TIOmarkets offer a range of order types that are relevant to news trading approaches.
Market Orders
A market order executes immediately at the best available price. This is the fastest way to enter a position but offers no price guarantee. During a news release, a market order will fill at whatever price is available at the moment of execution, which may differ from the quoted price at the time of submission.
Pending Orders
Pending orders allow you to pre-set entry levels, which is a common approach for news traders who want to capture a move without placing a market order at the moment of release. MT4 offers four pending order types: Buy Limit, Sell Limit, Buy Stop, and Sell Stop. MT5 offers six pending order types, adding Buy Stop Limit and Sell Stop Limit.
A Buy Stop or Sell Stop order placed above or below the current price can be used to enter a position if price moves through a defined level following a release. However, pending orders are also subject to slippage during fast markets and are not guaranteed to fill at the exact level set.
Stop Loss and Take Profit Orders
Using a stop loss on every news trade is one of the most important risk management steps available. A stop loss defines the maximum loss on a position if price moves against you. As noted above, stop loss orders may experience slippage during rapid price moves, but they remain one of the most practical tools for limiting downside in volatile conditions.
The maximum number of open and pending orders at TIOmarkets is 200 per client across all accounts. The maximum lot size per trade is 20 lots.
Choosing an Account for News Trading
TIOmarkets offers four live trading accounts. The choice of account affects the cost structure of news trades.
The Standard account has spreads from 1.1 pips with zero commission. Spreads are variable and widen during volatility, so the effective cost of a news trade on the Standard account will typically reflect a wider spread than the minimum shown.
The Raw account has spreads from 0.0 pips with a commission of $6 per round turn lot. The commission is charged in full when the position is opened and covers both the open and close of the trade. In conditions where spreads widen significantly, the Raw account's tighter base spread may result in a lower total cost, though this will depend on how far spreads widen at the specific moment of entry.
The VIP Black account has spreads from 0.3 pips with zero commission.
The Nano account is available on MT5 only, with spreads from 0.6 pips and a $6 round turn commission.
The Standard account is created automatically when you register (confirmed from the TIOmarkets contract specifications). Raw and VIP Black accounts must be opened separately through the client area. All leverage figures are subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements.
Leverage is reduced during high-impact news events on accounts using the unlimited leverage feature. This is a standing condition of the unlimited leverage feature available on the Standard account with MT5.
Demo Accounts and News Trading Practice
TIOmarkets offers a demo account with up to $50,000 in virtual funds. A demo account is a useful environment for becoming familiar with order placement mechanics and platform navigation before trading live.
However, demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions. This means that a news trade practised on a demo account may appear to execute at or very close to the requested price, which may not reflect what happens in a live account during a volatile release. Traders should treat demo results around news events as indicative rather than representative of live execution.
Key Economic Releases to Watch
The most market-moving scheduled releases for forex traders typically include the following categories. The actual impact of any release depends on the degree of surprise relative to market expectations, so a release that matches expectations closely may cause little movement even if it is a normally significant event.
United States: Non-farm payrolls, CPI, Federal Reserve rate decisions and meeting minutes, GDP, retail sales, ISM manufacturing and services data.
Eurozone: European Central Bank rate decisions, CPI flash estimates, GDP, and German economic data including the IFO business climate index and ZEW sentiment surveys.
United Kingdom: Bank of England rate decisions, CPI, employment data, and GDP.
Australia: Reserve Bank of Australia rate decisions, employment figures, and CPI.
Canada: Bank of Canada rate decisions, employment data, and CPI.
Japan: Bank of Japan rate decisions and policy statements.
Economic calendars are available directly within the MT5 platform. MT4 does not include a built-in economic calendar, but third-party calendars are widely available online.
Risk Management for News Traders
News trading carries a specific set of risks that differ from trading in normal market conditions. The combination of rapid price movement, wider spreads, and potential slippage means that risk management is more important, not less, around high-impact events.
Leverage amplifies both potential gains and potential losses. At higher leverage settings, an adverse price move of even a few pips can result in a significant loss relative to the margin committed. Sizing positions conservatively relative to account balance, and using a stop loss on every trade, are among the most practical steps available.
TIOmarkets applies a margin call at 100% and a stop out at 30% across all accounts, though these levels are subject to change. The exception is the Standard account at 1:2000 leverage, where the stop out level is 40%.
Some traders deliberately avoid placing new trades in the minutes immediately before and after a major release, choosing instead to let the initial volatility settle before assessing direction. This approach gives up the potential to capture the first move but reduces exposure to the most unpredictable execution conditions.
News Trading at TIOmarkets
TIOmarkets operates the tiomarkets.com domain under a MISA-regulated entity based in the Seychelles. We offer access to 70+ forex pairs on MT4 and MT5, with four account types, execution in milliseconds, and variable spreads across all instruments.
Hedging is permitted on all accounts. An Islamic (swap-free) account is available. Contact TIOmarkets directly to confirm eligibility and supported instruments. Copy trading is also available on the platform.
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