# What moves ES, NQ, CL and GC prices

> Futures prices move on scheduled data first: CPI and non-farm payrolls at 8:30 am ET, FOMC decisions at 2:00 pm ET, EIA oil inventories on Wednesday at 10:30 am ET. Between releases, index futures follow earnings and the cash session, crude follows supply news, gold follows the dollar and real rates. Knowing the calendar tells you when the risk is.

By StarTrading Team · Published 2026-09-08 · Updated 2026-09-08 · Source: https://startrading.io/blog/what-moves-futures-prices

Futures prices move for three kinds of reasons: scheduled data, news that changes what the underlying index or commodity is worth, and flows that follow the dollar and interest rates. The first kind is on a calendar, which makes it the easiest to prepare for. This article lists what moves the four contracts most traded on StarTrading accounts, ES, NQ, CL and GC, and where each fits in a session plan.

## Which scheduled releases move index futures?

Three US releases move ES and NQ more than anything else on the calendar. All three are published at fixed times, so the risk is known in advance even if the direction is not.

| Release | Publisher | Usual time (ET) | Moves most |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Consumer Price Index (CPI) | Bureau of Labor Statistics | 8:30 am, monthly | ES, NQ, GC |
| Employment Situation (non-farm payrolls) | Bureau of Labor Statistics | 8:30 am, usually the first Friday | ES, NQ, GC |
| FOMC statement | Federal Reserve | 2:00 pm, eight meetings a year | ES, NQ, GC, CL |
| FOMC press conference | Federal Reserve | 2:30 pm, same day | a second move, often larger |
| Weekly Petroleum Status Report | Energy Information Administration | Wednesday 10:30 am | CL |

CPI and payrolls land an hour before the cash open. The first minute after the print is a repricing, not a trend: the book is thin, the spread widens and the first move often reverses before 9:30 am. FOMC days are different. The statement at 2:00 pm moves prices, then the press conference at 2:30 pm moves them again, sometimes the other way, and the last ninety minutes of the session carry both.

## Does earnings season move ES and NQ?

Yes, and mostly overnight. The largest companies report after the 4:00 pm ET cash close, and because both indexes are weighted by market value, a single report from one of the top constituents can move NQ several points in the 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm window and gap the reopen. A prop account cannot hold through that: every position is closed at [flat time](https://startrading.io/rules/flat-time), 4:15 pm ET on Rithmic and 4:45 pm ET on Tradovate, before the reports come out. What you trade is the reaction the next morning, in a market that has already digested the number. During the four earnings weeks a quarter, the overnight range is wider than usual and the 9:30 am open more often starts far from the previous close.

## What moves crude oil?

CL is a supply-and-demand contract with a weekly data point: the EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report on Wednesday at 10:30 am ET, which reports US crude and product inventories. The American Petroleum Institute publishes its own estimate the evening before, so part of the Wednesday move is a comparison between the two. Beyond the weekly report, CL moves on OPEC+ production decisions, on shipping and geopolitical news that is by nature unscheduled, and on the dollar. One tick is $0.01, worth $10 on CL and $1 on MCL; a one-dollar move in the price of a barrel is $1,000 per contract. A crude trader on a prop account needs a calendar with the EIA time on it and a plan for the news that has no time.

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## What moves gold?

GC is priced in dollars and competes with bonds as a place to park money, so the two forces that move it are the dollar and real interest rates. A stronger dollar and rising real yields tend to weigh on gold; a weaker dollar and falling yields tend to support it. That makes the FOMC the main scheduled event for gold, followed by CPI and payrolls, because each of them changes the expected path of rates. Gold also reacts to the same unscheduled risk events as the rest of the board, often in the opposite direction to equities. One tick is $0.10, worth $10 on GC and $1 on MGC.

## Overnight session or cash session?

CME Globex trades almost 23 hours a day, but the four contracts do not behave the same way all night. The [trading hours article](https://startrading.io/blog/futures-trading-hours-and-flat-time) has the full schedule; here is what the sessions mean for price:

| Window (ET) | What drives price | Liquidity |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 6:00 pm to 2:00 am | Asian session, US after-hours earnings | thin, wide spreads |
| 2:00 am to 8:30 am | European open, European data | building |
| 8:30 am to 9:30 am | US data releases | fast, thin, gappy |
| 9:30 am to 4:00 pm | US cash equity session | deepest of the day |
| 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm | Post-close, earnings reports | thin |

The 9:30 am open is a release of its own: overnight orders meet the cash market and the first thirty minutes often set the range for the day. For a trader with a fixed daily budget, the difference between the overnight and the cash session is not the size of the moves but the cost of being wrong: a stop in a thin book fills further away.

## How does this fit a prop account session?

Three habits cover most of it.

1.  **Read the calendar before the first order.** Know which releases are today and at what time. On a funded [Stream account](https://startrading.io/accounts/stream) the [news trading rule](https://startrading.io/rules/news-trading) requires a flat position from one minute before to one minute after a red-folder release; on Cycle, Clear and Direct accounts trading through it is allowed, and the risk is yours to size.
2.  **Size the release, not the session.** The [Daily Loss Limit](https://startrading.io/rules/daily-loss-limit) is measured on open equity. A [Clear 50K](https://startrading.io/accounts/clear) has a $1,200 daily limit and a $2,000 Max Loss Limit; a 10-point move on 4 ES is $2,000, which is the entire Max Loss Limit in one candle. Micros through the release, minis after it.
3.  **Treat the open and the close as scheduled events.** They are on the clock every day. Flat time on a prop account comes before the earnings window, so nothing that happens after 4:45 pm ET is a trade you can hold.

Evaluation and funded accounts are simulated until the Live stage, and futures trading carries a substantial risk of loss; the calendar tells you when the risk is highest, not which way the price will go. The sizes and daily limits of every account are on the [pricing page](https://startrading.io/pricing).

## Sources

-   U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, [release schedule](https://www.bls.gov/schedule/news_release/): CPI and Employment Situation dates and the 8:30 am ET time.
-   Federal Reserve, [FOMC meeting calendar](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomccalendars.htm): statement and press conference times.
-   U.S. Energy Information Administration, [Weekly Petroleum Status Report schedule](https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/supply/weekly/schedule.php): the Wednesday 10:30 am ET release.
-   CME Group, [Globex trading hours](https://www.cmegroup.com/trading-hours.html) and [Crude oil](https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/energy/crude-oil/light-sweet-crude.contractSpecs.html) and [Gold](https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/metals/precious/gold.contractSpecs.html) contract specifications: tick sizes and values.

## Questions on this topic

### What time do CPI and NFP come out?

Both are published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 am ET, before the US cash open. CPI is monthly on a date set a year ahead; the Employment Situation report, which contains non-farm payrolls, usually lands on the first Friday of the month.

### Why does NQ move more than ES on the same news?

The Nasdaq-100 is concentrated in large technology companies whose valuations are more sensitive to interest rates and to their own earnings. The same rate surprise or the same earnings report moves NQ by more points, and its tick is worth less, so the dollar move per contract is often comparable.

### Does StarTrading let me trade through a release?

Yes on Cycle, Clear and Direct accounts and during every evaluation. A funded Stream account must be flat from one minute before to one minute after a red-folder release. The Daily Loss Limit is measured on open equity on every account, so size for the move.