Market Recap
XAUUSD
XAUUSD logged a 143.83-point intraday span, equivalent to 2.79% of the open, and settled lower on the session. It opened at 5146.07, posted the high at 5194.94 at 05:05, and remained beneath 5200 while not exceeding the H4 50‑period SMA at 5197.46. Price then traversed the 5100 figure and set the low at 5051.11 at 20:03, aligning closely with the 5050 handle. By the close, it printed 5083.19, a decline of 62.88 points (-1.22%) from the open, finishing in the lower quarter of the day’s range and 3.19 above the 5080 handle. The session profile featured an early high and a late-day low, with the close positioned nearer to the trough than the peak. On the four-hour timeframe, the MACD signal registered -21.85. On the daily timeframe, the MACD read 75.92 against its signal at 95.22, placing the MACD line below the signal line. Throughout the day, price action stayed below the H4 50‑SMA after the early high did not surpass it, and interaction with round numbers was visible: 5200 was not reached, 5100 was crossed on the downswing, and 5050 was approached into the late-session low. The settlement below the session midpoint underscores a close toward the lower end of the established range within the stated time window of 01:00 to 23:57.
GBPUSD
GBPUSD traversed a 0.0089 range (about 0.67% of the open) and settled at 1.34, down 0.0014 on the day (-0.11%). The session high was recorded at 03:29 at 1.34, while the low printed at 18:27 at 1.33, defining a day that stretched from just under the 1.34 handle to a brief dip beneath 1.33 before a late recovery. The pair opened at 1.34, edged lower through the middle of the day, and closed in the upper half of the range, below the intraday peak but comfortably above the session floor. Round numbers were active: the 1.33 figure was temporarily undercut at the low, while 1.34 contained the topside throughout. On higher timeframes, the H4 21‑EMA sat at 1.34 and the H1 20‑SMA at 1.33, framing intraday fluctuations around these averages. From a daily perspective, the Bollinger midpoint stood at 1.35, with the upper band at 1.37, leaving price action contained beneath the midline by the close. By sequence, the market posted its high early in Asia at 03:29, faded into the European and early U.S. hours to mark the low at 18:27, and then retraced part of the downswing into the New York close. The net decline of 0.0014 came alongside an intraday recovery that left the finish above the range midpoint and near the opening area, while the unbroken 1.34 figure capped rallies and the sub‑1.33 probe marked the day’s extreme.
EURUSD
EURUSD covered a 0.0089 range, equal to 0.76% of the open, with the session’s high registered at 03:30 before a slide to the low at 18:26, matching a high-before-low sequence. It opened at 1.16 and closed at 1.16, leaving a net loss of 0.0021 (-0.181%). Price action centered around the 1.16 figure for much of the day: an early lift carried it above that handle into the 03:30 peak, followed by a retreat into the 1.15s, and a partial recovery by the close. The finish sat around the middle of the day’s range, with price oscillating around the 1.16 handle into the end of trade. The intraday low remained above the 10-day low at 1.15, keeping recent multi-session support intact on a closing basis. On the hourly timeframe, the close ended just above the 21-period EMA at 1.16, highlighting that the late-session rebound recovered the immediate moving-average line after the afternoon dip. From a session-structure perspective, the progression from an early session top to an evening trough, then a modest bounce, framed a directional move that ultimately left the pair lower on the day while containing the damage within the broader 10-day floor. By the close, the market had retraced part of the intraday decline yet held below the opening level, with the 1.16 figure acting as a focal point across the New York afternoon.
Economic Calendar Recap & Preview
Weekly U.S. labor data showed layoffs remain contained: Initial Jobless Claims came in at 213,000, a touch above 212,000 previously but below the 222,000 consensus. Attention now turns to the February U.S. employment report on Friday, where at 15:30 server time Nonfarm Payrolls are projected at 79,000 following 130,000 in the prior month, and the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.2 percent after 4.3 percent. The simultaneous release concentrates event risk, with headline payrolls likely to dominate immediate market reaction; a stronger-than-forecast payrolls print paired with a lower jobless rate would typically firm expectations for tighter policy, while softer readings would ease them. Given the prominence of this release in assessing labor-market momentum and inflation persistence, brief but sharp volatility across rates, FX, and equity futures is possible around the timestamp.