The answer: 8:30 am New York, 13:30 GMT, 19:00 IST
| Friday 6 November 2026 | |
|---|---|
| US jobs report (NFP, October data) | 8:30 am ET (EST) · 13:30 GMT · 17:30 Dubai · 19:00 IST |
| What is released | Non-farm payrolls, unemployment rate, average hourly earnings, revisions |
| Source | BLS Employment Situation schedule |
| Next report | Friday 4 December 2026, same clock times |
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the Employment Situation report for October at 8:30 am Eastern Time on Friday 6 November 2026. New York switches to standard time (UTC−5) on 1 November, so that is 13:30 GMT. In India it is 19:00 IST, in Dubai 17:30, in Nairobi 16:30, in Johannesburg 15:30, in Lagos 14:30 and in Kuala Lumpur 21:30.
If you traded the September report at 18:00 IST or 12:30 GMT, note the change: US clocks go back one hour on Sunday 1 November, so from then every 8:30 am New York release lands one hour later in Europe, Africa, the Gulf and Asia. Our NFP day playbook covers how to trade it; this page is the clock.
NFP time in your country
Every time below is converted from 13:30 UTC on 6 November 2026 with the IANA time zone database (Python zoneinfo), which applies each country’s current daylight-saving rules. The “spreads widen” column is 15 minutes before the release.
| Country / city | Time zone (offset) | NFP release | Spreads often widen from | One hour after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USA: New York | EST (UTC−5) | Fri 6 Nov, 08:30 | 08:15 | 09:30 |
| USA: Chicago | CST (UTC−6) | Fri 6 Nov, 07:30 | 07:15 | 08:30 |
| UK: London | GMT (UTC+0) | Fri 6 Nov, 13:30 | 13:15 | 14:30 |
| Ghana: Accra | GMT (UTC+0) | Fri 6 Nov, 13:30 | 13:15 | 14:30 |
| Morocco: Casablanca | UTC+0 | Fri 6 Nov, 13:30 | 13:15 | 14:30 |
| Nigeria: Lagos | WAT (UTC+1) | Fri 6 Nov, 14:30 | 14:15 | 15:30 |
| Germany: Berlin / Frankfurt | CET (UTC+1) | Fri 6 Nov, 14:30 | 14:15 | 15:30 |
| South Africa: Johannesburg | SAST (UTC+2) | Fri 6 Nov, 15:30 | 15:15 | 16:30 |
| Egypt: Cairo | EET (UTC+2) | Fri 6 Nov, 15:30 | 15:15 | 16:30 |
| Kenya: Nairobi | EAT (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| Uganda: Kampala | EAT (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| Ethiopia: Addis Ababa | EAT (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| Turkey: Istanbul | TRT (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| Saudi Arabia: Riyadh | AST (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| Qatar: Doha | AST (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| Kuwait: Kuwait City | AST (UTC+3) | Fri 6 Nov, 16:30 | 16:15 | 17:30 |
| UAE: Dubai / Abu Dhabi | GST (UTC+4) | Fri 6 Nov, 17:30 | 17:15 | 18:30 |
| India (IST) | IST (UTC+5:30) | Fri 6 Nov, 19:00 | 18:45 | 20:00 |
| Indonesia: Jakarta | WIB (UTC+7) | Fri 6 Nov, 20:30 | 20:15 | 21:30 |
| Thailand: Bangkok | ICT (UTC+7) | Fri 6 Nov, 20:30 | 20:15 | 21:30 |
| Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur | MYT (UTC+8) | Fri 6 Nov, 21:30 | 21:15 | 22:30 |
| Singapore | SGT (UTC+8) | Fri 6 Nov, 21:30 | 21:15 | 22:30 |
| Philippines: Manila | PHT (UTC+8) | Fri 6 Nov, 21:30 | 21:15 | 22:30 |
| Hong Kong | HKT (UTC+8) | Fri 6 Nov, 21:30 | 21:15 | 22:30 |
| Japan: Tokyo | JST (UTC+9) | Fri 6 Nov, 22:30 | 22:15 | 23:30 |
| Australia: Sydney | AEDT (UTC+11) | Sat 7 Nov, 00:30 | Sat 00:15 | Sat 01:30 |
Sydney is the only city in the table where the report falls on Saturday local time. If your city is not listed, the gold economic calendar shows every scheduled US release in your own browser time, and the gold market hours tool converts the trading sessions.
Why the time moved this month
- The US left daylight saving time on Sunday 1 November. New York went from UTC−4 to UTC−5.
- The UK and the EU changed a week earlier, on 25 October, so London and Berlin are back to their usual five and six hours ahead of New York.
- India, the Gulf, Africa and most of Asia do not change their clocks. For you the whole shift comes from the US side: one hour later than in summer.
- Sydney is on summer time (AEDT) while New York is on winter time, which pushes the release past midnight there.
The daylight-saving shift entry explains how this affects the gold sessions in general.
NFP time by country: quick answers
The main countries are answered in the FAQ at the end of this page. Here are the rest, in the way people search for them.
What time is NFP in Qatar and Kuwait?
16:30 (4:30 pm) in Doha and Kuwait City on Friday 6 November 2026, the same as Riyadh. Friday is a weekend day in both countries, which means the release, the first hour and the weekly close all fall outside the local working week.
What time is NFP in Ghana?
13:30 GMT (1:30 pm) in Accra on Friday 6 November. Ghana is on GMT all year, so its NFP time is always the GMT time in the table above.
What time is NFP in Uganda and Ethiopia?
16:30 (4:30 pm) in Kampala and Addis Ababa, the same as Nairobi, because all three are on East Africa Time (UTC+3).
What time is NFP in Egypt?
15:30 (3:30 pm) in Cairo. Egypt’s summer time ended in late October, so Cairo is on UTC+2, the same as Johannesburg.
What time is NFP in Morocco?
13:30 (1:30 pm) in Casablanca, the same as London. Morocco moved its clocks back to GMT on 20 September 2026, so an older converter may still show 14:30. Check that your platform and alarm use the new time.
What time is NFP in Turkey?
16:30 (4:30 pm) in Istanbul. Turkey stays on UTC+3 all year.
What time is NFP in the UK and Germany?
13:30 in London and 14:30 in Berlin and Frankfurt. Both are back on winter time since 25 October.
What time is NFP in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines?
21:30 (9:30 pm) in Singapore, Hong Kong and Manila, the same as Kuala Lumpur.
What time is NFP in Indonesia and Thailand?
20:30 (8:30 pm) in Jakarta and Bangkok, on UTC+7.
What time is NFP in Japan?
22:30 (10:30 pm) in Tokyo.
What time is NFP in Australia?
00:30 on Saturday 7 November in Sydney and Melbourne (AEDT). In Brisbane, which has no daylight saving, it is 23:30 on Friday.
What time is NFP in New York and Chicago?
8:30 am EST in New York and 7:30 am CST in Chicago, before the US stock market opens at 9:30 am New York time.
For country-specific guides to gold trading hours, taxes and local practicalities, see trading gold in the UAE, India, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
Where NFP falls in your trading day
| Region | When the report lands | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | Early morning, before the US stock open | COMEX gold futures are open and liquid; equities react an hour later |
| UK, Europe, West Africa | Early-to-mid afternoon | London and New York overlap: the deepest part of the gold day |
| East and Southern Africa, Gulf | Late afternoon to early evening | Friday evening; in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait it is the weekend |
| India | 7:00 pm | Prime evening time; many retail traders are watching live |
| South-East and East Asia | 8:30–10:30 pm | Late Friday evening; the weekly close is in the early hours of Saturday |
| Australia | After midnight | Most people see the result on Saturday morning |
Because NFP lands inside the London–New York overlap, liquidity is better than on a Fed night. That does not stop spreads widening around the release itself.
What XAUUSD does, minute by minute
The timeline below uses GMT, IST, Dubai and New York time. It describes mechanics that repeat often enough to plan around. It is not a forecast of direction. For a full written plan with a checklist, use the NFP day gold playbook.
| GMT | IST | Dubai | New York | Stage | What XAUUSD typically does |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00–13:00 | 17:30–18:30 | 16:00–17:00 | 07:00–08:00 | The wait | Ranges often narrow as traders reduce positions; early breakouts frequently fail |
| 13:00–13:15 | 18:30–18:45 | 17:00–17:15 | 08:00–08:15 | Final minutes | The release-hour bar opens; liquidity thins |
| 13:15–13:30 | 18:45–19:00 | 17:15–17:30 | 08:15–08:30 | Pre-release | Spreads widen as liquidity providers pull quotes |
| 13:30 | 19:00 | 17:30 | 08:30 | Release | Headline payrolls hit; the first move is fast and can skip price levels |
| 13:30–13:45 | 19:00–19:15 | 17:30–17:45 | 08:30–08:45 | Reading the detail | Unemployment, wages and revisions are read; the first move can stall or flip |
| 13:45–14:00 | 19:15–19:30 | 17:45–18:00 | 08:45–09:00 | End of the release hour | Spreads start to normalise; the hourly candle closes at 14:00 GMT |
| 14:00–15:00 | 19:30–20:30 | 18:00–19:00 | 09:00–10:00 | Second hour | US stocks open at 14:30 GMT; yields and the dollar settle on a direction |
| 15:00–22:00 | 20:30–03:30 Sat | 19:00–02:00 Sat | 10:00–17:00 | Rest of the session | The move extends, fades or reverses into the weekly close |
| 22:00 | 03:30 Sat | 02:00 Sat | 17:00 | Weekly close | Gold stops trading until Sunday evening; any open trade carries weekend gap risk |
Before 13:30 GMT: spreads widen
In the last minutes before the release, liquidity providers widen their quotes. Your platform’s bid-ask spread on XAUUSD can be several times its normal size for a short time. A stop placed close to price can be hit by the spread alone, and pending orders can fill far from their level, which is slippage.
The 13:30 GMT bar
On a 1-hour chart set to GMT, the bar from 13:00 to 14:00 holds the release: 30 quiet minutes and then the first 30 minutes of reaction. On a 15-minute or 30-minute chart, the 13:30 bar opens at the exact moment of the release. Many trading platforms use a server clock that is not GMT, so check which bar on your chart is 13:30 GMT before Friday.
Our study of every NFP day since 2020 measured that release hour (8:00–9:00 am New York) for the 25 reports from July 2024 to October 2026 with COMEX gold futures hourly data:
| Release hour (13:00–14:00 GMT in winter) | Value |
|---|---|
| Median range of the release hour | $30.1 |
| Same hour on ordinary weekdays (median) | $17.0 |
| Median of the first two hours (13:00–15:00 GMT) | $44.6 |
| Widest release hour in the sample | $104.5 (4 September 2026) |
The first move, and how often it reversed
The first spike is the classic news spike. Many traders assume it always reverses. In our sample it did not:
| What happened by the 5 pm New York close (22:00 GMT) | Releases (of 25) |
|---|---|
| Extended: closed beyond the first hour’s close, same direction | 14 (56%) |
| Partly faded but stayed on the same side of the pre-release price | 6 (24%) |
| Reversed: closed on the other side of the pre-release price | 5 (20%) |
The most recent reversal was the September report on 2 October 2026: gold rose $36.7 in the release hour and then closed the day $40.0 lower. Twenty-five releases is a small sample and says nothing about this Friday’s direction, but it is a reminder that “fade the first move” is not a rule.
After the release: the weekend
Unlike a Fed decision, which lands late in the day, the jobs report’s reaction mostly happens inside Friday’s session. The study found that the median move on the day after NFP was 0.62%, almost the same as an ordinary day. The real risk is different: Friday’s close is followed by a weekend, and gold can open on Sunday evening away from where it closed. Our guide to whether gold trades at weekends explains the Sunday reopen.
NFP brings some of the widest spreads and fastest moves of the month. Prices can gap through stop orders, and a well-planned trade can still lose. Nothing on this page is a trade recommendation.
Before 13:30 GMT (19:00 IST): a short checklist
- Set the alarm for your local time from the table, not for last month’s time.
- Know your levels. The XAUUSD analysis page updates daily pivots every hour, and the week-ahead post sets out this week’s map.
- Size from the stop. A stop sized for a normal hour may be too tight for a $30 release hour. The position size calculator shows the right lot size for a wider stop.
- Decide in advance: flat, smaller size, or wait for the first hour to close. Write it down.
- Watch yields and the dollar. The real yields and dollar tracker shows whether bonds and currencies agree with gold.
- Read the reaction afterwards on why is gold moving today and the XAUUSD news hub. Past reports and their gold reaction are on the gold and NFP tracker.
The next jobs report
The November 2026 report is due on Friday 4 December 2026 at 8:30 am New York time, so 13:30 GMT, 17:30 Dubai and 19:00 IST again. It is the last jobs report before the Fed’s 8–9 December meeting. The December report follows on Friday 8 January 2027, also at 8:30 am. All dates are on the gold economic calendar.
Trade NFP together
Jobs Friday is easier with company, whether it lands at 4:30 pm in Nairobi, 7:00 pm in India or 9:30 pm in Kuala Lumpur. Inside the XAUUSD Global community, members post their plan before the release, follow the numbers together in real time and review the chart afterwards. No signals: everyone brings their own plan and reasoning. Your first month is free, then $19.99 a month, and you can cancel any time. Join the community and trade this Friday’s report with us.
Sources
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Employment Situation release schedule (October 2026 data on 6 November 2026 at 8:30 am; November data on 4 December; December data on 8 January 2027)
- BLS: The Employment Situation, September 2026
- Time zone conversions: IANA time zone database (Python
zoneinfo, tzdata 2026.5), checked for each zone’s offset on 6 November 2026 - Release-hour, reversal and next-day figures: our own calculation from COMEX gold futures (GC=F) data via Yahoo Finance, explained in how gold reacts on NFP days
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.
Frequently asked questions
What time is NFP today?
The US jobs report (non-farm payrolls) for October 2026 is released on Friday 6 November 2026 at 8:30 am Eastern Standard Time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics schedule. That is 13:30 GMT, 14:30 in Lagos and Berlin, 17:30 in Dubai, 19:00 in India (IST) and 21:30 in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
What time is NFP today in Dubai?
NFP is at 17:30 (5:30 pm) Gulf Standard Time in Dubai and the rest of the UAE on Friday 6 November 2026. The UAE does not change its clocks, but the US moves its clocks back one hour on 1 November, so this report lands one hour later in Dubai than the September report did.
What time is NFP in India IST?
NFP is at 19:00 IST (7:00 pm) on Friday 6 November 2026. India does not use daylight saving time, so the change comes from the US side: from November to March, 8:30 am New York data lands at 19:00 IST instead of 18:00 IST.
What time is NFP in Kenya?
NFP is at 16:30 East Africa Time (4:30 pm) in Nairobi on Friday 6 November 2026. Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, which are also on UTC+3, see it at the same moment.
What is the NFP time in South Africa?
NFP is at 15:30 South African Standard Time (3:30 pm) in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Friday 6 November 2026. South Africa stays on UTC+2 all year, so the time only changes when US clocks change.
What is the NFP time in Nigeria?
NFP is at 14:30 West Africa Time (2:30 pm) in Lagos and Abuja on Friday 6 November 2026. Nigeria stays on UTC+1 all year.
What is the NFP time in Malaysia?
NFP is at 21:30 Malaysia Time (9:30 pm) in Kuala Lumpur on Friday 6 November 2026, the same time as Singapore, Hong Kong and Manila.
What time is NFP in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait?
NFP is at 16:30 (4:30 pm) Arabia Standard Time in Riyadh, Doha and Kuwait City on Friday 6 November 2026. Friday is part of the weekend in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, so many traders there follow it from home.