Market Recap
XAUUSD
XAUUSD traded a wide session, reaching a high of 4402.38 at 15:16 before sliding to a low of 4309.74 at 20:44, and settling at 4332.83. From the session open at 4330.62, the close represented a gain of 2.21, or 0.051%. The intraday span measured 92.64 points, equal to 2.14% of the opening level. The close was positioned closer to the session low than the high, roughly a quarter of the range above the trough, and remained in the lower half of the day’s distribution. Round-number levels featured, with the peak printing just above the 4400 figure and the floor holding above 4300; into the finish, price was 32.83 above the 4300 handle. The path of trade saw the afternoon high give way to an evening low before stabilizing into the close. On the intraday backdrop, the H1 20-period simple moving average stood at 4360.39; both the open and the close were below this reference. On the daily timeframe, RSI(14) read 55.06 and the MACD signal was 70.86. The instrument remained below the recent five-day high at 4550.03. By the close, price action had tested the 4400 area without sustaining it and later stayed clear of 4300, leaving the session outcome narrowly positive and biased toward the lower end of the day’s range while retaining a measured distance from the late-December multi-day high.
AUDUSD
AUDUSD rose over the 00:00–03:30 session, closing at 0.6690, a gain of 0.00265 (0.398%) from the 0.6664 open. Price printed the session high at 0.6691 at 03:30 and the low at 0.6664 at 00:59, for a span of 0.00267, equal to 0.4% of the open. The low was established within the first hour and was followed by a climb that kept spot above the session midpoint at 0.66772 through the latter stages. The finish was positioned at the top of the range and remained below the 0.67 handle, with the last trade sitting a fraction under the high. On the hourly timeframe, the move placed the close above the 20-period simple moving average at 0.66778, while price action also stayed above the midpoint; both reference levels were near 0.6678. In the broader five-day context, the pair stayed beneath the recent high at 0.67269 and above the five-day low at 0.6659. Structurally, the early downside gave way to a sequence of higher prints into the end of the session, with no return to the initial trough. The range encompassed a move through 0.6680 and into the high 0.6680s before the final uptick to the high at the session close, leaving the close near the day’s upper boundary and the figure untested.
Economic Calendar Recap & Preview
Manufacturing sentiment dominated a thin calendar, with the U.S. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI released at 16:45 server time showing a prior of 52.2 and a 52.3 forecast, though the actual print was not provided in the feed; earlier euro area S&P Global Manufacturing PMI updates at 10:55 and 11:00, as well as the UK S&P Global/CIPS Manufacturing PMI at 11:30, also crossed without reported actuals. Looking ahead, attention centers on the U.S. ISM reports at 17:00 server time: Manufacturing PMI and Prices Paid. While no previous or forecast figures were supplied here, both releases typically help markets gauge production momentum and cost pressures; in simple terms, a higher Prices Paid reading would indicate firmer input-cost pressure that can feed into inflation expectations. No additional major data are scheduled in the window provided, and there are no listed meetings or speeches to frame the releases. With both ISM indicators arriving simultaneously, traders often emphasize headline diffusion levels and the breadth across new orders, employment, and prices, so the 17:00 slot can see concentrated moves across U.S. rates, the dollar, and cyclicals; a brief bout of volatility around the release time is possible.