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You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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New York session
New York opens, and for a few hours the two biggest currency centres on earth are trading at once. The New York session is the North American slice of the 24-hour FX day, running roughly from 8am to 5pm Eastern time. It matters for two reasons. It carries the US economic data that can move markets, including jobs numbers, inflation prints, Fed decisions, and for part of the morning it overlaps with London, which is still winding down.
That overlap is often a key trading period: liquidity can be deeper, spreads can be tighter, and market moves can be more pronounced. Once London clocks off in the early afternoon, trading activity may thin and the market can become quieter.
Example: A trader watching dollar pairs plans her day around the London-New York overlap in the morning, when trading activity is typically higher and a US data release can cause significant moves in EUR/USD, then eases off in the late afternoon as European desks go home and the market enters the slower Asian handover.
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
The largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalisation.
New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
Traders call it the Kiwi, after the bird stamped on the one-dollar coin. The New Zealand dollar, ISO code NZD, is a classic commodity currency, its fortunes tied to what New Zealand sells the world, above all dairy, so a swing in global milk-powder prices can move it. For years it was also a favourite of the carry trade, because New Zealand tended to run higher interest rates than the US, Europe, or Japan, tempting investors to borrow cheaply elsewhere and park the money in Kiwi for the yield. That makes it acutely sensitive to risk appetite. Example: When global markets are calm and investors are hunting yield, money may flow into the higher-rate New Zealand dollar and it may strengthen; but let a bout of fear hit, and the carry trade may unwind rapidly, with investors dumping Kiwi to repay the cheap loans they took out elsewhere, potentially putting downward pressure on its value beyond what the country’s own economic news alone might suggest.
NFIB Small Business Jobs Report
Big-company data gets the headlines, but most Americans work for small firms, and the NFIB Small Business Jobs Report is where you hear from them. Published monthly by the National Federation of Independent Business, it draws on a survey of small-business owners to track hiring plans, unfilled job openings, and how hard it is to find qualified workers. Because small businesses are such a huge share of US employment, their hiring intentions offer an early, ground-level read on the labour market. It also lands ahead of the government’s big monthly jobs report. Example: If the NFIB report shows a rising share of small-business owners struggling to fill open positions, economists may take it as a sign of a tight labour market with more wage pressure building, and they fold that clue into their expectations for the official payrolls figures and the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rates. A weak reading, by contrast, may indicate the jobs engine may be cooling.
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index
The companion to the jobs report, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index boils the mood of American small-business owners down to a single number each month. The National Federation of Independent Business surveys its members on a spread of questions, expected sales, plans to hire or invest, whether now is a good time to expand, inventories and earnings, and rolls the answers into one headline index. A high reading means owners are upbeat and may be more likely to spend and hire; a low one signals caution. Since small firms drive so much of the economy, their confidence carries real weight. Example: A slump in the NFIB optimism index, with owners citing worries about inflation and weak sales, may indicate to economists that the small-business engine of hiring and investment could be sputtering, a soft patch that can potentially foreshadow slower growth in the broader economy well before it shows up in the headline output figures.
Nigerian Naira (NGN)
Few major currencies have had a wilder ride lately than the naira. Nigeria’s currency, ISO code NGN, was for years propped up by the central bank at an official rate far stronger than the one dollars actually fetched on the street. That changed in June 2023, when the Central Bank of Nigeria moved towards a more market-based exchange rate, and it promptly collapsed, roughly halving against the dollar within days and sliding much further over the following year. The aim was to close the gulf between the official and black-market rates and lure back foreign investors. As one of Africa’s largest oil exporters, Nigeria’s currency is also sensitive to oil prices. Example: A Nigerian business that had relied on buying dollars at the old official rate suddenly faced a far weaker naira after the 2023 exchange-rate reform, watching the cost of imported goods jump; by 2025 the currency had steadied somewhat as oil earnings recovered and the central bank kept policy tight, but the devaluation had already reshaped prices across the whole economy.
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