Can You Trade High-Impact News Like NFP During a Prop Firm Challenge or Funded Account?

Payrolls Friday is the busiest few minutes of a forex trader's month, and a common way prop traders lose funded accounts that were in profit.

What people on X are asking

In September 2026 a prop reviewer listed the questions to ask before buying a challenge, including how is drawdown calculated, is there a consistency rule, and can I trade news? In a July 2025 reply, a trader asked how a firm can breach your funded account; shouldn't breaking the news rule be a soft breach? We use FTMO's public FAQ, read on November 10, 2026, as the worked example; other firms differ.

The fact-checked answer

The phase matters. FTMO's FAQ says its news restriction does not apply to any Swing type accounts or to any accounts in the FTMO Challenge or Verification phase: "you can trade during any news freely", provided forbidden trading practices are avoided. So you can trade NFP while being evaluated. The restriction starts once you have a funded FTMO Account or an FTMO Instant Account.

The rule on funded accounts. FTMO restricts order execution from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after selected news releases. This applies to any order execution, "including your Stop Loss, Take Profit or any other pending orders". You may hold open positions on affected instruments if they were opened more than 2 minutes before the event. FTMO says violating the rule "may result in termination" of the account.

Soft or hard breach? On FTMO's wording, the risk is termination, not a warning. That answers the X question for this firm: plan as if any fill in the window, even a stop-loss you set days ago, can cost the account. Other firms use different approaches, such as removing the profit from news trades; read your own firm's terms.

Which instruments are restricted, by news currency (FTMO)

Summarised from FTMO's "Can I trade news?" FAQ. FTMO marks restricted events as "Restricted event" in its economic calendar. Check the live list before each session. Tap a column header to sort.

News	Example events (FTMO list)	Restricted instruments
USD	Fed Funds Rate and Statement, Non-Farm Employment Change, Unemployment Rate and Wages, Advance GDP, FOMC Minutes, CPI y/y	All USD pairs, gold (XAUUSD), US indices (US2000, US500, US100, US30), DXY
EUR	ECB Main Refinancing Rate	EUR pairs
GBP	Bank Rate and MPC votes, CPI y/y	GBP pairs
CAD	BoC rate, CPI m/m, employment	CAD pairs
AUD / NZD	RBA or RBNZ rates, employment, CPI, GDP	AUD or NZD pairs
CHF	SNB policy rate	CHF pairs
Oil	Crude Oil Inventories	USOIL, UKOIL

What it means at NFP. The US jobs report is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on its scheduled dates. On a funded FTMO Account, nothing on USD pairs, gold or US indices may fill between 8:28 and 8:32. EURGBP or AUDNZD can be traded, as FTMO's own example says. For how the release moves markets, see how to trade forex around news like NFP.

UXS decision diagram

Is my trade allowed around a news release? (FTMO rules)

Text version of the diagram

1. Is the account in the Challenge or Verification phase, or a Swing account? If yes: News trading allowed; avoid forbidden practices
2. Does the instrument contain the news currency, or is it gold, a US index or DXY for USD news? If no: Not restricted; trade normally
3. Would any order (entry, close, SL, TP, pending) fill within 2 minutes before or after the release? If no: Allowed; positions opened more than 2 minutes before may be held
4. Can you remove pending orders and move stops away so nothing fills in the window? If yes: Do it before the window opens
5. Otherwise: Otherwise, close the trade before the window opens: a fill inside it can terminate the account

Diagram drawn by UXS. A simplified decision aid for education, not a recommendation.

Practical routine for funded accounts.

• Check the firm's calendar each morning for restricted events.
• Ten minutes before, cancel pending orders on affected instruments.
• Decide for open positions: close, or keep with stops far enough that a news spike can't reach them. A stop far away also means more risk; see what a daily loss limit is in a prop firm.
• Remember spreads widen on releases; see what the spread is in forex.
• Swing accounts exist for traders who want news and weekend freedom; see whether you can hold trades over the weekend.

Quick poll

You have a funded account and a EURUSD long with a stop 15 pips away. NFP is in 5 minutes. What do you do?

• Leave it; the stop protects me
• Close the trade now
• Widen the stop so it can't be hit in 4 minutes
• Switch to trading EURGBP instead

Save my answer

What each answer means

• Leave it; the stop protects me: Risky: if the stop fills between 2 minutes before and after the release, that's an execution in the window.
• Close the trade now: Safe under FTMO's rule, and it removes the spread and slippage risk.
• Widen the stop so it can't be hit in 4 minutes: Possible, but you're taking more risk; size accordingly.
• Switch to trading EURGBP instead: Allowed for USD news under FTMO's rule, since it doesn't contain USD.

Your answer is stored only in this browser (localStorage). UXS does not collect, count or publish votes, so no totals are shown.

Decision helper

Common mistakes

• Forgetting that stop-losses and take-profits count as executions.
• Missing that gold and US indices are affected by USD news.
• Assuming challenge rules carry over to the funded account.
• Relying on another firm's news rules.

FAQ

Can I trade news in an FTMO Challenge?

Yes; FTMO's news restriction does not apply in the Challenge or Verification.

What is the FTMO news rule?

On funded accounts, no order execution from 2 minutes before to 2 minutes after listed releases on affected instruments.

Does my stop-loss count?

Yes; FTMO says the restriction includes stop-loss, take-profit and pending orders.

Can I hold a trade through NFP on a funded account?

Yes if it was opened more than 2 minutes before, as long as nothing fills in the window.

Is gold restricted during NFP?

Yes; FTMO lists XAUUSD among instruments affected by US news.

What happens if I break the news rule?

FTMO says it may result in termination of the account.