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XAU/USD explained

By Saad El Soussi, UAE-authorized finfluencer · Updated 2026-11-08

XAU/USD is the price of one troy ounce of gold (XAU) in US dollars (USD), quoted on trading platforms like a currency pair with a bid and an ask. On most platforms one standard lot is 100 ounces, so a $1 move in the price is worth $100 per lot and the smallest quoted step of $0.01 is worth $1. The market trades from Sunday evening to Friday evening New York time and in autumn 2026 moved about $82 between its daily high and low. Retail clients in the EU can use at most 20:1 leverage on gold, which means a margin of 5% of the position's value.

XAU/USD now: 1 troy ounce of gold in US dollars

$4,070.60

Bid $4,070.60 · Ask $4,071.26

Last quote: 2026-11-06 22:00 UTC · Source: Swissquote · refreshes every minute

The market is closed right now (weekend or daily break); this is the last quote before the close.

Value of 1 standard lot (100 oz) at the bid	$407,060
Value of 0.01 lot (1 oz)	$4,070.60
Spread (ask minus bid)	$0.66 = 66 points, $66 per standard lot
A $1 move in the price	$100 per standard lot, $1 per 0.01 lot
Margin at 20:1 (5%) for 1 lot	$20,353

What the symbol means

XAU is the code for gold in the ISO 4217 currency code list: X marks a code that is not a country's currency and AU is the chemical symbol of gold. The unit behind the code is one troy ounce, 31.1034768 grams. USD is the US dollar. Written as a pair, XAU/USD reads like EUR/USD: the price of one unit of the first (an ounce of gold) in the second (dollars). You will also see XAU/EUR, XAU/AUD and XAU/GBP, the same ounce priced in other currencies.

The live XAU/USD quote at the top of this page is filled in when the page is served and refreshes every minute; the same price in grams, tolas and twelve currencies is on our gold price today page; the long-run picture is in the gold price history and the range of past moves in the gold forecast. Because XAU/USD is a dollar price, the dollar itself matters: see gold vs the US dollar.

How it is quoted

A platform shows two prices, for example 3,913.40 / 3,913.80 (illustrative). The lower one is the bid, the price you sell at; the higher one is the ask, the price you buy at. The difference, here $0.40, is the spread, the cost built into every trade. Most brokers quote gold with two decimals. The spread is not fixed: it widens at the daily break, around US data releases and when the market is thin. Check it on your own platform at the time of day you trade rather than trusting an advertised minimum.

Lots, pips and points

Gold has no official pip. Most platforms call the smallest step, $0.01, a point, and some call $0.10 a pip; the words differ, the money does not. What matters is the contract size, which on most platforms is 100 troy ounces per standard lot (check your broker's contract specification, a few use other sizes).

Position	Ounces	$0.01 move	$1 move	$10 move
1.00 lot	100	$1	$100	$1,000
0.10 lot	10	$0.10	$10	$100
0.01 lot	1	$0.01	$1	$10

Worked example: you buy 0.05 lots at 3,913.80 with a stop loss at 3,905.80, $8 below. If the stop is hit you lose 0.05 × 8 × 100 = $40, plus the spread. The lot size calculator turns a risk amount and a stop distance into the lot size, and the pip value calculator does the same arithmetic for currency pairs.

Margin and leverage

To open a position your broker locks a deposit, the margin. In the EU the leverage retail clients may use on gold is capped at 20:1 (ESMA's product intervention measures, which national regulators made permanent in 2019), so the margin is 5% of the position's value. One lot at $3,900 controls $390,000 of gold and needs $19,500 of margin; 0.01 lots needs $195. Brokers outside the EU may offer more leverage, which raises the size of the positions you can open, not your chance of being right. The same rules close your positions when the account falls to 50% of the margin required and stop the balance going below zero.

When XAU/USD trades

Spot gold at brokers follows COMEX gold futures on CME Globex, which trade from Sunday 6:00 p.m. to Friday 5:00 p.m. New York time with a 60-minute break every day from 5:00 p.m. (CME contract specifications). The London reference price, the LBMA Gold Price, is set in two auctions each business day starting at 10:30 and 15:00 London time (LBMA). The busiest hours are the London and New York overlap, roughly 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon New York time, and the minutes after US data at 8:30 a.m. New York time.

How far it moves

We measured COMEX gold over the 64 trading days from 3 August to 30 October 2026: the gap between the day's high and low was $82.10 on a typical day (median), between $38.30 and $206.60. Over the 43 full weeks of 2026 to the end of October the typical week moved $229 between its high and low, the quietest $130 and the wildest $886 (our calculation from daily COMEX data, 2 November 2026). On one lot those are swings of $8,200 a day and $22,900 a week. That is why position size comes before anything else.

Holding overnight

A spot gold position held past the broker's daily rollover is charged or credited an overnight financing amount (the swap), which reflects interest rates and the broker's own margin on them. For a day trade it is irrelevant; for a position held for weeks it adds up. Your platform shows the swap per lot per night in the contract specification. Some brokers offer swap-free accounts for clients who need them on religious grounds.

XAU/USD vs gold futures vs gold ETFs

	XAU/USD (spot CFD)	COMEX futures (GC)	Gold ETF
What it is	A contract with your broker on the spot price	An exchange contract for 100 oz, with an expiry month	A share in a fund that holds bars
Smallest size	Usually 0.01 lot (1 oz)	100 oz (10 oz for the micro contract)	One share
Leverage	Yes, capped at 20:1 in the EU	Yes, set by exchange margins	Usually none
Costs	Spread, swap overnight	Commission, roll at expiry	Fund fee, broker commission
Who it suits	Short-term traders, small accounts, long and short	Larger accounts, the market that sets the price	Long-term investors with a stock account

What moves it

The US dollar, expected US interest rates, inflation and jobs data, fear, and central-bank buying. The how to trade gold guide goes through each driver, the active hours and a simple framework for a first plan; trading for beginners puts the whole path in order.

Follow XAU/USD with SesTrading

We trade gold ourselves. VIP members get each trade with its entry, stop loss and targets, and every week we publish the results in our public Telegram channel, losing trades included. Open our bot to see how it works. It answers in English.

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Questions people ask

Is XAU/USD the same as the gold price?

Yes. XAU/USD is the price of one troy ounce of gold in US dollars, which is how gold is quoted worldwide. Shop prices per gram are derived from it and include making charges and tax.

What is 1 pip in gold?

There is no single definition. Most platforms quote gold to $0.01 and call that a point; some call $0.10 a pip. Use the money instead: on a 100-ounce lot, every $1 move is $100 and every $0.01 is $1.

How much is 1 lot of gold?

On most platforms 100 troy ounces. At $3,900 an ounce that is $390,000 of gold; with 20:1 leverage the margin is $19,500. A 0.01 lot is one ounce.

Can I trade XAU/USD with $100?

Technically yes at brokers that offer 0.01 lots, but a $100 account can only risk about $1 per trade if it follows the 1% rule, and a single typical day moves $82 an ounce. Learn on a demo account first.

Why is XAU/USD different from the price on the news?

The news usually quotes COMEX futures or the LBMA auction price; your broker quotes spot with its own spread. They move together and differ by a few dollars.

Authorized in the UAESaad Nizar El Soussi, founder of SesTrading, is listed by the UAE Capital Market Authority as an authorized finfluencer (entry 193, added 24 September 2026). Check the official list.