MidasBiggest 1-hour gold moves in 2025–2026
Reviewed
The widest 1-hour range of gold in the data was $397.29 (7.23% of price) in the hour 15:00–16:00 UTC on 29 Jan 2026, when price went from $5,496.06 to $5,181.85. The median hour over 10,418 full hours was $12.59. None of the 25 widest hours fell on an hour with a scheduled US or ECB release from our checked calendar, although release hours are on average about 2.4 times wider than other hours ($29.55 against $12.53).
The 25 widest hours by high minus low
Hours are UTC clock hours of full Monday to Friday hours. Range is high minus low of the hour; move is close minus open. 16 of the 25 are between 28 Jan 2026 and 2 Feb 2026, the sharpest stretch in the data: the four widest days of the whole period are in it as well (daily range).
| # | Hour (UTC) | Day | Open | Close | Move | Range | % of price | Scheduled release in the hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026-01-29 15:00–16:00 | Thu | $5,496.06 | $5,181.85 | −$314.21 | $397.29 | 7.23% | no |
| 2 | 2026-01-30 18:00–19:00 | Fri | $4,848.80 | $4,877.50 | +$28.70 | $212.64 | 4.39% | no |
| 3 | 2026-02-02 01:00–02:00 | Mon | $4,764.95 | $4,736.21 | −$28.74 | $200.95 | 4.22% | no |
| 4 | 2026-01-30 02:00–03:00 | Fri | $5,300.10 | $5,223.88 | −$76.21 | $200.70 | 3.79% | no |
| 5 | 2026-02-02 05:00–06:00 | Mon | $4,678.56 | $4,547.99 | −$130.58 | $198.93 | 4.25% | no |
| 6 | 2026-03-23 11:00–12:00 | Mon | $4,268.73 | $4,378.79 | +$110.06 | $194.62 | 4.56% | no |
| 7 | 2026-03-03 11:00–12:00 | Tue | $5,247.69 | $5,144.32 | −$103.38 | $191.98 | 3.66% | no |
| 8 | 2026-01-30 09:00–10:00 | Fri | $5,116.54 | $5,012.37 | −$104.17 | $191.38 | 3.74% | no |
| 9 | 2026-02-12 16:00–17:00 | Thu | $5,060.29 | $4,954.27 | −$106.02 | $190.64 | 3.77% | no |
| 10 | 2026-01-30 17:00–18:00 | Fri | $4,984.52 | $4,848.90 | −$135.62 | $186.06 | 3.73% | no |
| 11 | 2026-01-28 23:00–00:00 | Wed | $5,417.10 | $5,512.25 | +$95.16 | $179.71 | 3.32% | no |
| 12 | 2026-02-02 06:00–07:00 | Mon | $4,547.27 | $4,504.00 | −$43.26 | $171.62 | 3.77% | no |
| 13 | 2026-03-03 14:00–15:00 | Tue | $5,156.40 | $5,037.83 | −$118.58 | $159.39 | 3.09% | no |
| 14 | 2026-02-05 02:00–03:00 | Thu | $4,958.31 | $4,810.65 | −$147.67 | $157.77 | 3.18% | no |
| 15 | 2026-03-23 00:00–01:00 | Mon | $4,464.44 | $4,353.52 | −$110.92 | $154.15 | 3.45% | no |
| 16 | 2026-03-23 06:00–07:00 | Mon | $4,309.66 | $4,220.10 | −$89.55 | $147.51 | 3.42% | no |
| 17 | 2026-02-02 00:00–01:00 | Mon | $4,741.73 | $4,765.85 | +$24.12 | $144.70 | 3.05% | no |
| 18 | 2026-01-29 16:00–17:00 | Thu | $5,181.83 | $5,263.77 | +$81.94 | $139.36 | 2.69% | no |
| 19 | 2026-04-02 01:00–02:00 | Thu | $4,784.38 | $4,696.19 | −$88.19 | $138.06 | 2.89% | no |
| 20 | 2026-03-23 15:00–16:00 | Mon | $4,461.24 | $4,363.52 | −$97.72 | $135.97 | 3.05% | no |
| 21 | 2026-02-02 07:00–08:00 | Mon | $4,504.31 | $4,586.15 | +$81.84 | $135.83 | 3.02% | no |
| 22 | 2026-02-02 13:00–14:00 | Mon | $4,793.50 | $4,705.62 | −$87.89 | $134.82 | 2.81% | no |
| 23 | 2026-01-30 08:00–09:00 | Fri | $5,180.81 | $5,116.46 | −$64.35 | $129.02 | 2.49% | no |
| 24 | 2026-02-02 15:00–16:00 | Mon | $4,705.11 | $4,619.35 | −$85.76 | $128.30 | 2.73% | no |
| 25 | 2026-02-02 09:00–10:00 | Mon | $4,639.71 | $4,718.31 | +$78.60 | $128.01 | 2.76% | no |
No hour in this list contains a scheduled release from our calendar. The table says when, not why: no cause is assigned to any hour.
The 10 largest net hourly moves (open to close)
Sorted by the absolute difference between the hour's closing and opening price. Some of these hours are not among the 25 widest, because they went mostly one way.
| # | Hour (UTC) | Day | Open | Close | Move | Range | Scheduled release in the hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026-01-29 15:00–16:00 | Thu | $5,496.06 | $5,181.85 | −$314.21 | $397.29 | no |
| 2 | 2026-02-05 02:00–03:00 | Thu | $4,958.31 | $4,810.65 | −$147.67 | $157.77 | no |
| 3 | 2026-01-30 17:00–18:00 | Fri | $4,984.52 | $4,848.90 | −$135.62 | $186.06 | no |
| 4 | 2026-02-02 05:00–06:00 | Mon | $4,678.56 | $4,547.99 | −$130.58 | $198.93 | no |
| 5 | 2026-03-03 14:00–15:00 | Tue | $5,156.40 | $5,037.83 | −$118.58 | $159.39 | no |
| 6 | 2026-03-23 00:00–01:00 | Mon | $4,464.44 | $4,353.52 | −$110.92 | $154.15 | no |
| 7 | 2026-03-23 11:00–12:00 | Mon | $4,268.73 | $4,378.79 | +$110.06 | $194.62 | no |
| 8 | 2026-01-30 01:00–02:00 | Fri | $5,407.27 | $5,300.12 | −$107.14 | $119.27 | no |
| 9 | 2026-01-30 10:00–11:00 | Fri | $5,012.35 | $5,118.77 | +$106.42 | $121.97 | no |
| 10 | 2026-02-12 16:00–17:00 | Thu | $5,060.29 | $4,954.27 | −$106.02 | $190.64 | no |
Scheduled releases against the rest
Our checked calendar of scheduled US and ECB releases covers 29 Jan 2025 to 17 Sep 2026. Hours that contain one are clearly wider than other hours on average, yet none of the very widest hours is one of them. Unscheduled events are not in the calendar.
| Group | Median 1-hour range | Share of the 25 widest hours |
|---|---|---|
| Hours with a scheduled release | $29.55 | 0% |
| All other hours | $12.53 | 100% |
Release hours are about 2.36 times a normal hour at the median ($29.55 ÷ $12.53).
What this means for a grid and for a stop
The widest hour took price $397.29 from low to high, about 32 times the median hour ($12.59). A stop or a grid depth tuned to the typical hour would be passed many times over in such an hour. No hour of the 25 was tied to a scheduled release, so a calendar of releases would not have marked any of them in advance.
To see what a particular grid does on these ranges, use the grid calculator (deposit, step and number of orders) and the Midas Grid emulator, which replays real ticks. This page is descriptive: past movement does not predict future movement, and it is not advice to trade.
How we measured
- Source. Dukascopy XAUUSD bid tick data, aggregated by us into hourly open, high, low and close. Prices are US dollars per ounce; all times are UTC. Bid only: no spread, commission or swap, and no trading results of any strategy.
- Period. 2 Jan 2025 to 26 Oct 2026: 462 trading days, 10,418 full hours and 2,283 four-hour blocks. “Last 3 months” means days from 27 Jul 2026. Numbers were generated on 29 Oct 2026.
- Day. A trading day is one Monday to Friday UTC day file; the day's open is its first tick. Monday's file also holds the Sunday-evening reopen. The weekend gap itself is not part of any day: see the weekend gap page.
- Which hours are kept. Only full hours of Monday to Friday: at least 30 quotes, the first quote within 5 minutes of the start of the hour, the last within 5 minutes of its end, and no silent stretch longer than 10 minutes. Hours that do not meet this (the daily break, the weekend, thin or interrupted hours) are dropped. A four-hour window is a UTC block (00–04, 04–08 and so on) and is kept only when all four of its hours are kept.
- Release hours. Our checked calendar of scheduled US and ECB releases (UTC) covers 29 Jan 2025 to 17 Sep 2026; an hour counts as a release hour when a scheduled release falls inside it. Nothing outside this list is labelled, and the page gives no cause for any single hour.
- The numbers file. All figures on this page come from one file, gold_moves.json; there are no other sources and no estimates.
Frequently asked questions
What was the biggest 1-hour move in gold?
The widest hour by high minus low was 29 Jan 2026, 15:00–16:00 UTC: $397.29 (7.23% of price), with the price going from $5,496.06 at the open to $5,181.85 at the close (−$314.21). The median 1-hour range over the whole period was $12.59.
Do the biggest gold moves happen at scheduled news releases?
In this data, no: none of the 25 widest hours fell on an hour with a scheduled US or ECB release from our checked calendar (29 Jan 2025 to 17 Sep 2026). On average, though, release hours are wider: their median range was $29.55 against $12.53 for other hours, about 2.4 times. Unscheduled events are not in the calendar, and this page does not assign causes to individual hours.
When did the sharpest hours cluster?
16 of the 25 widest hours fall between 28 Jan 2026 and 2 Feb 2026, and the four widest days of the whole period are in the same stretch (see the daily range page). It was the sharpest stretch in the data.
How often does a gold hour move $50 or $100?
A high-minus-low range of at least $50 happened in 3.1% of full hours and at least $100 in 0.5% of them. Measured from the open in one direction, the shares were 2.1% and 0.3%. Details are on the move odds page.
What is the difference between range and move in the tables?
Range is the hour's high minus low. Move is the closing price minus the opening price of the hour, so it is negative when the hour ended lower. A wide range with a small move means price went far and came back within the hour.
Can these hours be used to predict the next big move?
No. The table lists past hours; it says nothing about when the next one will come. In the 25 widest hours the weekday split was Mon 12, Tue 2, Wed 1, Thu 5, Fri 5, which is a description of this sample, not a pattern to rely on. Past movement does not predict future movement.
These are the ranges a grid Expert Advisor works inside.Midas Grid is a grid EA for gold on MT5; its panel shows the room to stop-out for your account and settings.