Market Recap 

XAUUSD 
XAUUSD recorded a lower close on Friday, settling at 4043.69 after opening at 4103.37, a decline of 59.68 points or 1.454%. The session posted an early high of 4111.71 at 02:06 before sliding to the day’s low of 4020.93 at 17:08, with a total range of 90.78 points, equivalent to 2.21% of the open and about 107.7% of the current D1 ATR. By the close, price was positioned in the lower quarter of the day’s range, having rebounded modestly from the 17:08 trough to finish near the 4040 handle. Intraday flow moved from a brief push above the 4100 figure into the early peak, then down through the mid-4050s toward the 4020s, while the 4000 round level remained untested. On higher timeframes, the close sat below the H4 50-period simple moving average at 4070.01, after the session began above it, marking a day that traversed the average and ended beneath it. The daily Bollinger upper band at 4162.63 stayed above all intraday prints, and the 10-day low at 3982.8 was left intact, with the session low 38.1 points above that reference. Relative to the full span, the close came 22.8 points off the low and 68.0 points below the high. The session’s structure featured an early high set within the first hour, a sustained decline into mid- to late-afternoon, and a late stabilization into the close around 4040. 

EURUSD 
EURUSD printed a late-session high at 1.155 at 23:51, setting fresh 5- and 10-day highs, before settling at 1.153, up 3.9 pips (0.034%) from the 1.153 open. The day’s low was established earlier at 1.145 at 16:40, leaving a 91.7-pip intraday range, about 0.8% of the opening level. The sequence ran low before high, with price recovering from sub-1.15 territory and later approaching the 1.155 figure without reaching it. By the close, spot was positioned near the upper end of the session’s span, finishing roughly 16 pips below the high and about 76 pips above the low. Round-number dynamics were in focus as the pair dipped under the 1.15 handle intraday and then closed around 30 pips above it. On the hourly backdrop, the close sat above the H1 21‑EMA at 1.151, while on the four-hour view the MACD signal line was at 0.0. On the daily frame, price action remained well above the lower Bollinger Band at 1.133. The session thus combined a downside probe into the mid-afternoon with a late-session extension to new multi-day highs, ending with the market holding gains into the top portion of the day’s range. Session window covered 00:00 to 23:56 server time, with the intraday high posted in the final minutes and the low recorded mid-afternoon. 

USDJPY 
USDJPY posted a wide session on 31 Jul, spanning 3.42 from a high of 160.87 at 06:12 to a low of 157.44 at 23:56, with a close at 157.60. The pair fell 1.90 on the day, a move of -1.19% from the 159.49 open, with the intraday range equating to 2.15% of the opening level and comparing with a 14‑day ATR of 1.15. Price pushed above the 160 handle early before reversing into the New York afternoon, printing sub‑158 and finishing close to the session low, roughly 0.15 above it. The close sat near the bottom of the day’s range, marking fresh 5‑ and 10‑day lows as flagged. From an intraday perspective, the session began near the H1 21‑EMA at 159.56 but ended below it, while the entire day traded beneath the D1 Bollinger midline at 162.36. The sequence saw an early lift to 160.87 by 06:12, followed by a progressive move lower into the final hour and an end‑of‑session trough at 23:56. Round numbers featured, with trading above 160 briefly and sustained action below 158 into the close. By the bell, USDJPY had retraced well off the early high and settled in the lower tail of the day’s distribution, with the closing level substantially beneath both the intraday EMA reference and the daily Bollinger midpoint. No tick volume data were provided for further context on participation. 

Economic Calendar Recap & Preview 

Tokyo inflation surprised to the upside as the CPI excluding food and energy rose 2.0 percent year over year in July, from 1.9 previously and above the 1.7 forecast, signaling firmer underlying price momentum in the capital; later, the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.0 percent, steady from the prior 1.0 percent. Over the coming 24 hours, the calendar is clear with no scheduled releases or central bank events in server time, offering little in the way of new catalysts and leaving markets to digest the latest Japanese data; with no set data on tap, any unscheduled headlines could still introduce pockets of volatility.