The best forex brokers for news trading are those that keep spread widening to a minimum when it matters most — during Nonfarm Payrolls, CPI, the Fed rate decision, Retail Sales, and the FOMC Statement. When a major release hits, spreads that can spike to 50, 100, or 200+ percent in seconds. Every order filled in that window absorbs the full cost of the widened spread — and when execution is slow on top of that, slippage compounds it further.
To find out which brokers actually manage this well, we built our own live monitoring system: Expert Advisors running on real funded accounts at each broker, recording spread data every minute, 24/5, with sub-minute sampling during each high-impact event. No third-party averages. No marketing claims. Just the numbers from when it happened.
Most broker comparisons for news trading pull data from what brokers claim about themselves. That data tells you nothing about what your spread will actually be at 8:30 AM ET when NFP drops. Our data does. The table and charts below show exactly how each broker performed during the most recent releases, ranked by average spread increase and max spike.
Best Forex Brokers for News Trading — Combined Rankings
The table below ranks all 7 brokers by their average performance across all five events. Two metrics drive the ranking — average spread increase (%): how much wider the spread was on average during each event window compared to that broker’s 3-day baseline (a broker at 100% was twice as expensive as normal); and max spike (%): the single worst reading during the event window, which is what you pay if your order fills at the worst possible second. By default the table sorts by max spike. Switch to “Avg Increase” to rank by overall consistency. Expand any row for account type, regulation, and leverage details. Lower is better for both.
Multi-Event Analysis
NONFARM PAYROLLS (Jun 2026) • CPI M/M (Jun 2026) • FED INTEREST RATE DECISION (Jun 2026) • RETAIL SALES M/M (Jun 2026) • FOMC STATEMENT (Jun 2026)
| Rank | Broker | Avg Increase | Max Spike | Grade | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
FXPRO | 18.9% Baseline: 0.98 | 40.7% Max: 1.38 | A+ | |
| 2 | 
Opo Finance | -1.4% Baseline: 0.76 | 49.9% Max: 1.14 | A | |
| 3 | 
HYCM | -1.5% Baseline: 0.98 | 50.7% Max: 1.48 | A | |
| 4 | 
xChief | 9.4% Baseline: 0.86 | 101.6% Max: 1.72 | B | |
| 5 | 
IFCMarkets | 11.0% Baseline: 1.29 | 107.0% Max: 2.68 | B | |
| 6 | 
LiteFinance | 35.5% Baseline: 0.50 | 194.7% Max: 1.48 | C |
How We Measure Broker Spreads During News Events
We monitor funded live accounts at each broker automatically. Every minute, 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, the system records the commission-adjusted EURUSD spread and pushes it to our database — giving us a continuous, granular record of each broker’s pricing across all market conditions.
For the five high-impact USD events we track, the system switches to sub-minute sampling in the window around each release. This means we don’t miss the spike. We then compare the spread during a ±2 minute window around the release to that broker’s 3-day baseline average — that comparison is what produces the percentages in the table above. The five events:
- Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP)
- CPI m/m (Consumer Price Index)
- Fed Interest Rate Decision
- Retail Sales m/m
- FOMC Statement
All spreads are commission-adjusted, so ECN accounts with a base spread near zero are already factored in at their true cost.
Spread widening vs. slippage — what we measure and why. Both are real costs during news events, but they’re different things. Spread widening is the increase in the bid-ask spread: it’s set by the broker and its liquidity providers, it’s visible before your order fills, and it’s the same for every trader at that broker at that moment. Slippage is the gap between the price you submitted and the price you actually got — it happens during order processing and depends on execution speed, queue depth, and order size. Our system measures spread widening directly. Slippage is harder to compare between brokers before you open an account, but ECN/STP execution (which all tested accounts use) eliminates requotes and substantially reduces slippage relative to market maker models. In practice: if a broker is widening its spread by 800% during NFP, that’s the problem to solve first.
Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) — Forex Broker Spread Comparison
Nonfarm Payrolls is released on the first Friday of every month at 8:30 AM ET. It measures the number of jobs added to the US economy in the prior month, excluding agriculture, and is the single most market-moving scheduled release in the forex calendar. EURUSD routinely moves 80–200 pips in the minutes following the print. If the number comes in well above or below the consensus estimate, the move can be larger and the initial direction can reverse sharply within 15–30 minutes.
For forex brokers, NFP is the most demanding test of spread management. Liquidity temporarily disappears in the seconds before and after the release — market makers widen their spread to limit their exposure, while ECN/STP brokers pass on the liquidity providers’ widening without adding to it. The difference between broker types is most visible on NFP, which is why it’s our baseline test for any news trading broker.
The chart below shows each broker’s baseline spread, average spread during the ±2 min NFP window, and the max spike — the worst single moment recorded. Use the Percentage view to compare widening relative to each broker’s own baseline, which is the fairest comparison when brokers have different base spreads.
Nonfarm Payrolls - June 2026
Fed Interest Rate Decision — Forex Broker Spread Comparison
The Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision eight times per year at 2:00 PM ET. It’s the second most impactful scheduled event for USD pairs after NFP — a surprise rate change, or even a change in the language around future rate expectations, can move EURUSD 100+ pips within minutes. Unlike most news releases, the rate decision also arrives alongside the FOMC Statement, which means volatility can come in two waves: one at the decision itself, and a second as traders process the statement language.
Rate decision spread behavior differs from NFP in an important way: where NFP spike is sharp and brief (typically over in 30–60 seconds), rate decision volatility can sustain for 30–60 minutes. This means even news trading brokers with reasonable spike numbers may produce elevated spreads for a longer window, affecting position management and exit costs as well as entry. The chart below captures the initial ±2 minute window — see the FOMC Statement section further down for the statement-period data.
Fed Interest Rate Decision - June 2026
CPI m/m (Consumer Price Index) — Forex Broker Spread Comparison
The Consumer Price Index month-on-month reading is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, typically on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30 AM ET. It measures the percentage change in prices paid by consumers from the prior month and is one of the Federal Reserve’s primary inflation gauges. A hotter-than-expected CPI print strengthens the USD (signals the Fed may hold or raise rates longer); a softer print weakens it. Since 2022, CPI days have reliably produced some of the sharpest intraday moves in USD pairs.
CPI spread widening tends to be aggressive but brief — a hard spike that normalizes within a minute or two of the release. This makes the max spike metric particularly relevant for forex brokers handling CPI: a broker that manages the average well but lets the spike run is still a liability for traders entering at the moment of release. The chart below shows both.
CPI m/m - June 2026
Retail Sales m/m — Forex Broker Spread Comparison
Retail Sales month-on-month measures the change in the total value of consumer purchases at the retail level, released around the middle of each month at 8:30 AM ET. As a leading indicator of consumer spending — which drives roughly 70% of US economic activity — it consistently moves USD pairs even when the headline number isn’t far from forecasts. A strong Retail Sales reading supports the USD; a miss puts it under pressure.
Retail Sales produces smaller spread spikes than NFP or the rate decision, making it a useful secondary test of broker behavior. Some brokers that handle the major events reasonably still show disproportionate widening on mid-tier releases — which suggests the issue is their liquidity setup rather than just event-driven illiquidity. The chart below isolates Retail Sales so you can compare broker consistency across a less extreme but still meaningful stress point.
Retail Sales m/m - June 2026
FOMC Statement — Forex Broker Spread Comparison
The FOMC Statement is published at the same time as the Fed’s interest rate decision. It outlines the committee’s reasoning, their assessment of current economic conditions, and — most importantly for traders — any changes in language that signal the future path of rates. Even when the rate decision itself is fully priced in, the statement can move markets significantly: a single word change from “gradual” to “patient” or from “symmetric” to “balanced” is enough to shift EURUSD by 50+ pips as algorithmic traders parse the text against the prior statement.
We track the FOMC Statement as a separate event from the rate decision because the spread behavior in the statement window can look different. Some brokers that manage the initial decision spike well see a second widening as algo-driven flow hits the market during statement processing. If you trade the rate decision, you’re already exposed to this window — the data below shows how each broker handled that second phase.
FOMC Statement - June 2026
How to Choose the Best Forex Broker for News Trading
Spread behavior during events is the most important factor — but it’s not the only one. Here’s what the data and the rankings table tell you, and what they don’t:
The spike matters more than the average. A broker can produce a modest average increase by recovering quickly, but if the spike hits 20x the baseline, any order filled at that moment pays that cost. For traders who execute at the release, sort the table by max spike. For traders who wait for the initial move and enter on momentum, the average increase is the more relevant number.
Account type is part of the result. All accounts in this test are raw spread/ECN types. A standard account at the same broker will typically show wider baseline spreads and larger event widening. If you’re trading news on a standard account, the actual cost you face is higher than what the charts show here. ECN accounts also eliminate requotes — the practice where a market maker declines your order at the requested price during fast-moving conditions and forces you to re-confirm at a worse price. That’s a form of forced slippage that adds to your cost beyond what spread data captures.
Execution speed compounds the spread. A broker with a tight spread but slow fills during volatility still costs you — the order travels through a congested queue and arrives late, at a worse price. If execution speed is a concern, check our separate fast execution broker analysis alongside this data.
The five events covered here — NFP, CPI, Fed Rate Decision, Retail Sales, and FOMC Statement — cover the highest-impact scheduled releases in the USD calendar. A broker that performs well across all five is a broker with a reliably liquid ECN setup. If your current broker doesn’t, this page exists to help you find one that does. You can also compare baseline spreads between brokers using our live spread comparison tool.
FAQ
Based on our live spread monitoring across 5 major USD events (NFP, CPI, Fed Rate Decision, Retail Sales, FOMC Statement), the best forex brokers for news trading are those with the lowest average spread increase and max spike during event windows. The combined rankings table at the top of this page shows the current ranking across all 7 brokers we test. Sort by max spike for the worst-case view, or by average increase for overall consistency.
Across the brokers we track, EURUSD spreads typically widen anywhere from 50% to several hundred percent above baseline during the ±2 minute Nonfarm Payrolls window. The max spike — the single worst reading — can reach 5–20× the broker’s normal spread, depending on how far the print deviated from expectations. See the NFP chart above for exact numbers from the most recent release.
Slippage is the difference between the price you requested and the price your order actually filled at. During news events, slippage occurs because the market moves faster than your order can be matched — you submit to buy at 1.1170, but by the time the broker fills it, price has moved to 1.1175. Slippage is separate from spread widening; total entry cost during news is the spread plus any slippage, which is why both need to be accounted for when sizing positions around major releases.
Yes — there are no restrictions on it, but the cost environment changes significantly. Spreads widen, fills can be slower, and some market maker brokers may requote orders (reject them and ask you to confirm at a new price). If you trade news events regularly, use an ECN/STP broker (no dealing desk, no requotes), size positions smaller than normal to account for worst-case fills, and treat the first 30 seconds after a release as the most expensive window of the trade.
A market maker internalizes your order and sets its own spread — it can widen that spread as much as it chooses during volatility, and may requote orders when the market is moving too fast. An ECN/STP broker routes your order directly to liquidity providers; spreads widen because liquidity providers widen them, not because the broker is adding a margin. For news trading, ECN/STP is strongly preferred because there are no requotes and the widening is market-driven rather than broker-controlled. All accounts in our test are raw spread/ECN types. You can read more about what to look for in a low-latency trading broker in our scalping broker guide.
You can’t eliminate slippage during high-impact events, but you can reduce its impact: use an ECN broker (faster fills, no requotes); consider limit orders instead of market orders where the trade allows it — a limit order fills at your price or not at all; and where possible, wait for the initial spike to pass before entering. The 30–60 seconds immediately after a release are the most expensive entry point; a momentum entry 1–2 minutes later often gets a significantly better fill.
ecn or stp?
The results are from ECN accounts, however, the STP accounts are the same more or less.
Sir But the result would not be the same as a live account. if we test it on a demo account but on a real account it would be very different
Hey Ghani. The results are from the real accounts. If you read the methodology section of the article, you see that the results are from the real accounts registered in myfxbook
Hey David thank you for your effort and time to create this amazing page. i personally use axistrader its been like months now. i saw fxopen as the top in the list. so please if you get this message i would like a reply if should i also create an account on fxopen too?
Hey Colin, this is what I got when I was testing the brokers. However, make sure to test the brokers that you want to pick, in this case FXOpen, for a decent period of time, at least 2 to 3 weeks in different situations of the market and different news events, to see if the broker is suitable for your trading conditions. For example, one thing about FXOpen is that they offer better conditions such as lower spreads+ commissions to bigger accounts. So if you have a small account like 1, 2 or 3 thousand dollars, other options might suite you better.