Market Recap
XAUUSD
XAUUSD added 0.79% on Friday, settling at 3886.72 after a 30.35 advance from the 3856.37 open. The session carved out a 53.66 range, or 1.39% of the open, with an early trough at 3838.06 recorded at 06:40 and a late peak at 3891.72 at 18:57. Price spent the back half of the day in the upper portion of the range, closing 5.00 points beneath the session high and well above the session midpoint at 3864.89. Trading initially pressed under the 3840 figure before reversing higher, later tagging the 3890 handle as the intraday top. The finish framed a close above short- and intermediate-term references: above the H1 EMA21 at 3873.47 and above the H4 EMA21 at 3857.02; the market also remained above the daily Bollinger midline at 3729.68 throughout the session. From a structure perspective, the low was set in the morning hours, followed by a sequence of higher intraday swing lows into the afternoon and a single push to the day’s high in the evening. By the close at 23:56, price held above both the session midpoint and the opening print, leaving the settlement near the day’s upper boundary. Notable round levels featured during the session included sub-3840 on the downside early and 3890 on the upside late, with the latter capping the day’s high. The day’s close also sat above the H4 EMA21 by roughly 30 points and above the H1 EMA21 by about 13 points.
(XAUUSD M15)
AUDUSD
AUDUSD closed at 0.6598, up 0.00083 or 0.126%, after trading between 0.65897 and 0.66035. The session low matched the open at 0.65897 at 00:00, while the high was set at 04:54. The intraday range measured 0.00138, equal to 0.21% of the open and about 32% of the D1 ATR14 of 0.00435. Price traded around the 0.6600 figure, peaking above it to 0.66035 before easing into the finish, and it settled in the upper half of the session’s range and above the session midpoint at 0.65966. In H4 terms, the pair ended 0.00015 below the 21-EMA at 0.65995. On the daily backdrop, spot remained above the lower Bollinger Band at 0.65309 and above the 5-day low at 0.65407. Intraday, the initial print at the open marked the trough, followed by a climb to the high into 04:54, with no new lows after the first hour. The close left the market 0.00055 below the session high while holding 0.00083 over the low. The sequence featured repeated engagement around 0.6600 without a close above that figure. Overall, the session progressed from the open low toward the late high and concluded with gains within a range that was about one-third of the D1 ATR14, placing the finish marginally below the H4 21-EMA and modestly above the session midpoint, while remaining well clear of the flagged 5-day low and the daily lower Bollinger boundary.
(AUDUSD M30)
GBPUSD
GBPUSD stayed within the 1.34 handle through the 00:00–06:25 session, traversing a 0.0026 range (about 26 pips), equivalent to 0.2% of the open. Price marked the session low at 00:00 near 1.34 and advanced to the high around 1.35 at 01:01, before consolidating back inside the earlier path. It settled at 06:25 at 1.34, up roughly 6 pips (0.04%) from the 1.34 open. The close finished in the lower half of the day’s range and below the session midpoint, with trading confined to the 1.34s and never leaving that big figure. The sequence was straightforward: a low was set at the start, a high followed an hour later, and the remainder of the window saw prices hold between those extremes, ending a touch above the open but beneath the intraday median. In higher-timeframe context, spot remained beneath the D1 Bollinger midline, indicating price action below that central daily reference throughout the session. On H4, the 21-EMA sat just above the bulk of intraday trading; the 01:01 high briefly exceeded this moving average, while the close returned below it. Multi-day context showed the session maintained distance above the referenced 5-day low, leaving that level untested. Overall, activity was bounded by the early-established extremes, with no extension into a new handle and a closing level positioned below the session’s midpoint after an early push to the high.
(GBPUSD M30)
Economic Calendar Recap & Preview
US labor data slated for Friday did not publish: Due to the current US government shutdown, the release of several key economic data from the agencies have been impacted. As a result, the US Nonfarm Payrolls report and the Unemployment Rate scheduled at 15:30 server time on 2025-10-03 were not released; consensus had looked for payrolls at 84.0 after 22.0 previously, and the unemployment rate at 4.2 percent versus 4.3 percent prior. With those prints absent, no other major economic data were released during the period. Looking ahead, there are no scheduled economic releases or events over the next 24 hours, leaving the calendar empty and attention on any updates regarding when delayed US data may be published. When the labor figures eventually arrive, a stronger-than-forecast payrolls outcome alongside a lower unemployment rate would typically signal tighter labor conditions, which could influence expectations for the policy path. In the meantime, with no time-stamped releases on the docket today, traders should be aware that unscheduled headlines or guidance from statistical agencies could still drive abrupt moves given the lighter calendar.