Creating a Simple News Filter for XAUUSD Trading on MT5 - script for MetaTrader 5

XAUUSD (Gold) is a popular trading instrument in the forex market due to its high volatility and profit potential. However, major economic news events—such as Non-Farm Payrolls, Fed interest rate decisions, or European Central Bank announcements—can cause significant price spikes, posing risks to automated trading strategies. To manage these risks, a News Filter in an Expert Advisor (EA) can pause trading during high-impact news periods. In this article, I’ll show you how to create a simple News Filter for XAUUSD trading on MT5 and share a practical code example to get you started.

Why Use a News Filter for XAUUSD Trading?

News events related to USD, GBP, or EUR often lead to sharp movements in XAUUSD prices. For example, a Fed rate hike announcement might cause gold prices to drop rapidly, triggering stop-losses or unexpected losses in an automated trading system. A News Filter helps by:

• Pausing Trading: Temporarily halting trades before and after major news events to avoid volatility.
• Reducing Risk: Protecting your account from sudden market swings.
• Improving Consistency: Ensuring your EA trades only in stable market conditions.

In the next section, I’ll provide a simple MQL5 code snippet to implement a News Filter for your XAUUSD trading strategy.

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Simple News Filter for XAUUSD Trading                            |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property copyright "Duy Van NGUY"
#property link      "
https://www.mql5.com/en/users/wazatrader"
#property version   "1.00"

input int MinutesBeforeNews = 15; // Minutes before news to pause trading
input int MinutesAfterNews  = 15; // Minutes after news to resume trading

// Simulated news times (for demo purposes, replace with real news data source)
datetime newsTimes[] = {D'2025.05.07 14:30:00'}; // Example: News at 14:30 on May 7, 2025

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Check if trading should be paused due to news                    |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
bool IsNewsTime()
{
   datetime currentTime = TimeCurrent();
   
   for(int i = 0; i < ArraySize(newsTimes); i++)
   {
      datetime newsTime = newsTimes[i];
      datetime startPause = newsTime - MinutesBeforeNews * 60; // Pause X minutes before news
      datetime endPause = newsTime + MinutesAfterNews * 60;   // Resume X minutes after news
      
      if(currentTime >= startPause && currentTime <= endPause)
      {
         Print("News Filter: Trading paused due to upcoming news at ", newsTime);
         return true; // Pause trading
      }
   }
   
   return false; // Safe to trade
}

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Expert initialization function                                   |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
int OnInit()
{
   return(INIT_SUCCEEDED);
}

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Expert tick function                                             |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
void OnTick()
{
   if(IsNewsTime())
   {
      return; // Skip trading during news time
   }
   
   // Add your XAUUSD trading logic here
   Print("Safe to trade XAUUSD");
}

//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| Expert deinitialization function                                 |
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
void OnDeinit(const int reason)
{
   // Clean-up code if needed
}
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+

Code Explanation

• Inputs: MinutesBeforeNews and MinutesAfterNews allow you to define the time window (in minutes) to pause trading before and after a news event.
• News Times: The newsTimes array contains predefined news event times (e.g., May 7, 2025, 14:30). In practice, you can replace this with a real news feed from an economic calendar API.
• Logic: The IsNewsTime() function compares the current time (TimeCurrent()) with the news event times. If the current time falls within the pause window, trading is halted.
• Usage: Integrate this filter into your EA by calling IsNewsTime() in the OnTick() function before executing any trades.

Enhance Your XAUUSD Trading with XAU OneShot EA MT5

While the code above provides a basic News Filter, you might want a more robust solution for XAUUSD trading. That’s why I developed XAU OneShot EA MT5, an Expert Advisor designed specifically for trading gold with advanced risk management. It includes:

• A built-in News Filter that pauses trading 15 minutes before and after major USD/GBP/EUR news events.
• Auto Break-Even and Trailing Stop to lock in profits.
• Partial Take Profit (closes 50% of the position) to secure gains while letting the rest run.
• A Daily Loss Limit to protect your account from excessive drawdowns.

Conclusion

Incorporating a News Filter into your XAUUSD trading strategy is a simple yet effective way to manage risks during volatile news periods. The code provided in this article can serve as a starting point for your EA development. For a more comprehensive solution, try XAU OneShot EA MT5 to take your gold trading to the next level. Happy trading!