How Fast Does News Move Markets (and How Long It Lasts)

By Mohamed Amine Sououdi, Founder · 5 min read

News hits markets in seconds — the first spike on a major release or shock is almost instant. But the spike is not the story. The lasting effect of news behaves very differently from that first violent move, and confusing the two is why chasing headlines usually loses.

The first spike is noisy

In the first minutes, price often whips both ways as algorithms and traders digest the number. The initial direction frequently reverses. Entering on the spike, with a tight stop, is one of the fastest ways to get stopped out on both sides of a move.

Short-term news often nets to noise

Within a few hours, the reaction to a single headline frequently fades and can even flip. If your holding period is a day, most individual headlines are noise you can ignore. The market is a voting machine in the short run and a weighing machine over time.

The real effects are slower and larger

Genuine fundamental shifts — a change in the rate path, a real growth surprise — play out over days, not minutes. The durable move is the trend the news sets, not the candle it printed. Trade the shift, not the flash.

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