During this period, many banks, brokers, liquidity providers, and institutional desks operate with reduced staffing, shorter hours, or lower risk appetite. The result is not necessarily “more volatile every day,” but a market that can behave differently from normal weeks, where liquidity conditions can change faster than traders expect.
During holiday conditions, the most common change is not a permanent trend shift but microstructure risk. You may see spreads widen on pairs that are normally stable, or experience slippage where your fill is slightly worse than expected, especially during fast moves. You can also get sharp spikes that look like breakouts but fail quickly, because thin order books allow prices to move through levels with less resistance, then snap back when liquidity returns.
For copy traders and strategy providers, holiday liquidity can create an extra layer of risk because multiple accounts may execute the same idea at once. Even small slippage differences across accounts can widen performance dispersion, which can confuse followers and stress strategy metrics.
Here are practical adjustments that traders, copy traders, and fintech-algo users can apply during the CNY period without changing their entire system:
Avoid chasing breakouts: Consider waiting for confirmation, retests, or structure shifts rather than entering on the first candle through a level.
Use realistic stops: Stops that are too tight can get clipped by random spikes; stops that are too wide can inflate risk. Aim for logical structure-based stops, then size down to keep risk controlled.
Be careful with market orders: In fast conditions, market orders can experience worse fills. If you use limit orders, consider the risk of missing the trade versus getting a better fill.
Watch spreads before entering: If spreads expand beyond your normal tolerance, it can turn a good setup into a poor trade instantly.
If you provide signals or run a copy-trading strategy, consider tightening your operational discipline during CNY. That does not mean tighter stops; it means tighter risk management and clearer rules.
- Limit exposure stacking: Avoid adding too many correlated positions when liquidity is thin.
- Set maximum daily loss and maximum open risk: This reduces the chance of a holiday whipsaw day becoming a large drawdown.
- Prioritize execution quality over frequency: Fewer, higher-quality trades often outperform high-frequency activity during holiday conditions.
Chinese New Year can bring festive energy to the community, but markets do not celebrate the same way. When liquidity thins, the FX market can become more sensitive, more jumpy, and less forgiving. The goal is not to fear the period, but to trade it with intention: reduce risk, demand cleaner setups, and focus on execution quality. Traders who survive the messy weeks with discipline are the ones best positioned to perform when normal liquidity returns.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the official position of Followme. Followme does not take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided and is not liable for any actions taken based on the content, unless explicitly stated in writing.
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