Calculators

Gold price, trading hours and what moves XAU/USD

How the spot price is set, when gold liquidity is deepest for a South African session, and which macro forces actually push XAU/USD.

xau/usd · one bar, one hourTARGETENTRYSTOP
What the market page tracks: one bar an hour, and the levels a plan is built from.
Ready when your numbers are

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FxPro gives South African traders MT4, MT5, cTrader and FxPro Edge for XAU/USD, with funding by local card, bank transfer in ZAR and e-wallet. Check which FxPro entity your account is opened with before you fund it.

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FAQ

Common questions

What exactly is XAU/USD and why is it quoted the way it is?

XAU/USD is the price of one troy ounce of gold in US dollars, quoted to two decimals, so one pip is 0.01. One standard lot is 100 oz, which means a one-dollar move in the quote is $100 per lot. South African traders see the rand equivalent move with both the gold price and the rand-dollar rate.

What moves the gold price during a South African trading day?

Gold responds to real interest rate expectations, US dollar strength, central bank buying and demand for defensive assets. Because it pays no yield, higher rate expectations tend to weigh on it. For a South African reader there is a second driver: rand weakness can lift the local-currency gold price even when the dollar price is flat.

Why does gold trade in dollars when I am funding in rand?

Gold is priced and settled in US dollars globally, so XAU/USD is the reference market wherever you sit. Your broker converts your rand funding into dollar margin at its own rate. That means your rand profit or loss combines the gold move with the rand-dollar move, and the two can offset each other.

Is gold more or less volatile than a currency pair like EUR/USD?

It depends on the period and the event. Gold can move sharply around US data releases and rate decisions, and its pip size of 0.01 on a 100 oz lot means each pip is worth a meaningful dollar amount. Volatility is not constant, so size positions from the margin and pip value tools rather than from memory.

How should I read the reference price of about 4275.0 on this site?

Treat it as an illustrative reference for running the calculators, not a live quote. Your broker's bid and ask will differ because of its own liquidity, spread and timing. Use the live price page for context, then enter your broker's actual fill price into the profit and margin tools for a realistic result.