There are two types of forex traders. One type of traders depends on fundamental analysis in trading forex. The second type of traders depends on technical analysis in trading forex. Whether you are a fundamental trader or a technical trader, you should not underestimate the importance of economic data in shaping trading strategies.

US Dollar is the most important currency in the global economy. More than 90% of currency trades are done in US Dollar. In most of the currency trades, US Dollar is either the base currency or the counter currency.

Choosing the right currency pair to trade is very important for you. USD is the most important currency and most probably you will be also trading USD most of the time. You should know that the release of certain economic data has significant and lasting impact on USD.

With experience, you will understand that currency markets reaction to the release of different economic data with time also changes. A few years back, US GDP figures used to be important for USD but they dont have much impact now.

EUR/USD is the most liquid pair in the forex market and is heavily traded. The release of Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data on the first Friday of each month has become important in recent years. These figures makes EUR/USD and other pairs involving US Dollar highly volatile for some time until the markets digest the importance of these figures.

Similarly, the release of US housing sales number every month has become very significant for USD in the recent years. Previously, forex markets used to give more importance to US Trade Balance.

If you depend on range trading as a trading strategy, you should avoid the day NFP data is released for trading. This is a highly volatile and jittery day for the forex market.

However, as a breakout trader, understanding of which economic data is expected to be released can help you in your trading. You should plan your trades in accordance with the importance of the economic data to be released.

In short, knowing what economic indicators move the forex markets most is very important for you as a trader. It is important for you to understand which data the market deems important at any point in time.

Knowledge of which economic data causes knee jerk reaction in the currency markets and which economic data usually has lasting reaction in the currency markets is also important for your trading success.