Gold Price Chart & Gold Trading
On this page, you will learn how to trade gold online. First, we begin with factors affecting gold prices (XAUUSD). Then, we shall look at gold trading hours and the best way to invest in or trade gold. Finally, we shall also answer the questions asked by most beginners.
Gold Price Chart Today
Gold Market Trading Hours
Most new gold investors start out asking, what time does the gold market open? The short answer is that the gold markets are open 24 hours a day, five days a week. A more detailed answer is that there are no gold trading hours because the yellow metal is not traded on a central exchange like stocks. The largest gold markets are the futures markets and the physical gold markets where traders buy gold bullion. You can access the futures markets via a broker to trade gold futures.
Therefore, as a trader, you should know that there is no gold market open time or a gold market close.
Traders have the opportunity to place and close gold trades at any time simply because the gold markets are open 24 hours, five days a week. However, there are better times to place trades compared to others. For example, some of the best gold trading hours are found during the European and American trading sessions, usually the market’s busiest hours. On the other hand, the Asian session is typically regarded as a much quieter session, given that only a small number of Asian exchanges are open at this time.
By trading gold during the busiest market hours, you will find plenty of trading opportunities compared to trading when the markets are tranquil.
Should You Trade Gold? Is Gold Trading Still Profitable?
If you are wondering, is gold a good investment now? The short answer is gold is still a good investment now and will likely continue to be a good investment in the foreseeable future.
Gold is still a good investment today because the yellow metal has intrinsic value, unlike some current investment fads such as meme stocks and cryptocurrencies. In addition, gold has long been regarded as a safe-haven asset, which retains its value when inflation erodes the value of other asset classes. Thus, while some might argue that gold prices have not risen much despite the rising global inflation, the metal remains a crucial component of most investors’ portfolios.
What about the future of gold?
What Affects the Price of Gold?
As you start to trade, you might wonder, how is gold priced? Well, the price of gold is primarily determined by the forces of supply and demand. Periods when demand for gold is high and the supply is low usually lead to higher gold prices. However, the opposite is true of periods when the supply of gold is high and the demand is low as prices tend to fall.
As a physical commodity, gold has actual uses, such as making jewelry and making electronics, as a form of money and investment purposes, hence why the forces of demand and supply determine the metal’s price.
Another critical factor that affects the price of gold is inflation, with most investors being aware of the gold price vs inflation debate. In theory, gold prices are expected to rise in tandem with inflation as investors stockpile the metal to hedge against the devaluation of fiat currencies.
Other factors that could cause gold prices to rise include political instability, quickly triggering a spike in gold prices. For example, the trade war between the United States and China was a massive boon for gold prices, which rose throughout 2019 and a considerable part of 2020.
Gold price fluctuations could also be driven by the accumulation of gold reserves by Central Banks globally as a hedge against inflation and prop up their currencies’ value. In addition, countries with volatile currencies have been stockpiling gold to stabilize the value of their local currencies.
US Dollar
The US dollar wields a significant influence over the price of gold, as both are considered safe-haven assets and compete for investment capital. Consequently, investors often find themselves at a crossroads, having to decide between investing in gold or the US dollar, depending on prevailing market conditions.Typically, when the US dollar is on a downward trajectory, investors tend to purchase gold to safeguard the value of their investments. This strategy is employed because a weakening dollar often coincides with a rise in inflation. Conversely, when the reserve currency strengthens, investors lean towards acquiring more dollars, which often leads to a decline in gold prices.
In essence, the relationship between the US dollar and gold can be viewed as opposites—gold prices generally benefit from a weakening dollar, while the dollar itself benefits from a decline in gold prices. This dynamic adds a layer of complexity and nuance to investment decisions in these assets.
By understanding the interplay between the US dollar and gold, investors can navigate the ever-changing market conditions in a more informed manner, optimizing their investment strategies for the best possible outcomes.
Weekly gold price chart
The weekly gold price chart above shows how gold prices rose from October 2018 to August 2020, marking a significant bull trend.
Trading Gold CFDs vs Invest Physical Gold
Which One is Right for You?
What is a gold CFD?
Gold CFD refers to tradable instruments offered by most Forex and CFD brokers that track the underlying prices of the yellow metal. Gold CFDs trading allow you to trade gold without buying an ounce of gold, which trades at over $1700. Instead, you can buy fractions of gold for a few dollars and try to profit from the constant changes in gold prices. You can also bet on falling gold prices without having to deposit vast amounts of capital and margin with a traditional broker
As a trader, you might have heard of the term paper gold and may be wondering, what is paper gold? Paper gold refers to all the digital representations of gold traders by millions of investors from all over the world. For example, gold CFDs are paper gold, gold futures are paper gold, among others. However, gold stocks are not paper gold because they represent the shares of gold mining companies, not actual gold. Therefore, paper gold refers to instruments that track the actual price of physical gold.
So, how can you trade gold CFDs? The easiest way to trade gold CFDs is to open an account with a regulated broker that offers gold CFDs as a tradable asset. You should choose a licensed broker by a tier 1 regulator like the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Your chosen broker should offer fair spreads, fast execution speeds, and 24/5 customer support.
Some Forex brokers offer gold-stock CFDs for traders interested in trading gold stocks that allow you to bet on rising and falling gold prices readily. In addition, trading gold stocks as CFDs allow you to get started trading with minimal costs, compared to trading the actual gold stocks with a traditional stockbroker.
Differences between trading gold CFDs and Physical Gold
| Trading gold CFDs | Trading Physical Gold |
|---|---|
| 1.It can be bought and sold quickly without requiring physical storage. | 1.One must figure out how to store the physical gold due to security risks. |
| 2.It can be traded in small quantities. | 2.Must be bought in the form of physical gold bars or jewelry. |
| 3.One can profit from rising and falling gold prices. | 3.One can only profit from rising gold prices while booking losses as prices fall. |
Step-by-step: How to Trade Gold Online?
Why Trade Gold with ATFX?
A Golden Opportunity!
Always Online
Trade Anywhere
Competitive Commission
Trading gold with ATFX allows you to trade gold CFDs with low spreads; hence you get to keep most of your profits. You also get to profit from rising and falling prices by taking trades in either direction without having to post a significant margin.
Trading gold with ATFX gives you a golden opportunity due to the deep liquidity offered by the broker; hence, you can quickly get into and out of massive positions. In addition, gold prices tend to fluctuate significantly daily, offering gold traders multiple opportunities daily.
You also get access to metals trading 23 hours five days a week as the markets are closed for one hour daily to allow for settling transactions.
ATFX’s gold traders can trade the yellow metal from anywhere in the world so long as they have an internet connection. You can trade on the go using the MT4 mobile and web platforms.
Gold Trading Strategy for Beginners and Advanced Gold Traders
You can trade gold using various instruments such as gold futures and CFDs, options and gold stocks. However, the most popular gold trading instruments are gold futures and CFDs.
Always Trade With the Trend
Trading with the trend is a crucial strategy for maximizing trading opportunities. Professional traders understand that markets often trend for extended periods, offering excellent profit potential to those who align with the trend. On the other hand, going against the trend demands advanced skills and often leads to costly losses. Don’t miss out on the best trading opportunities – always trade with the trend.
Time Frame Selection
Those who are trading the markets as a side hustle should also utilize the higher time frames such as the 4-hour and daily charts.
Support and Resistance
The first step is to identify potential trade areas such as support and resistance zones, which you can use to place your trades. You can then take bullish trades when the price bounces off support while executing bearish trades when the price bounces off resistance.
The chart below shows two support lines drawn on the daily gold chart. The first support line has been broken several times in the past and does not represent a good trade location.
On the other hand, the second support level has held for multiple months and is a solid level that is likely to hold in future. Well, the price is approaching the level at the time of writing, and it is likely that it will hold this time as well.
Gold support levels.
Other Tips
Let your broker do the heavy lifting
Some brokers, such as ATFX, will send you daily gold trading tips and strategies issued by their trading experts, but it will still be up to you to implement the online trading strategies correctly. Still, you should remember that even the top traders have losing trades. With ATFX, you have access to Trading Central and Autochartists, which are premium add ons to the popular MetaTrader 4 platform that improve your overall trading experience. You can use both add-ons as a source of trading ideas.
You should always backtest your chosen trading strategy to ensure that it has worked in the past, which increases the chances that it will work in future. Another commonly overlooked aspect of trading is a trader’s mindset. You should constantly work on your mindset to help you hold on to your winners for longer while quickly cutting your losing trades short.
Having a solid mindset will contribute significantly to your trading success than having a high win rate with a trading strategy.
Start Gold Trading in 3 Simple Steps
Register for an account
Open your account
Complete the Live Trading Account application form. Once we have verified identity, we will set up your account.
Fund your account
Start trading
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, gold is still very relevant today and investors should not hesitate to invest in the yellow metal, which still acts as a safe-haven asset to date.
Yes, Gold trades 24 hours a day five days a week, but the gold futures markets are usually closed over the weekend. Hence, you cannot open new gold trades over the weekend, but you can hold your open trades over the weekend.
The best way to invest in gold is via gold CFDs, which you can trade with a small account. CFD trading allows you to profit from both falling and rising gold prices.
Yes, beginners can successfully trade gold by following the strategies outlined here on this page as well as on other parts of our website.
You can invest in both gold and silver, which are extremely important commodities within the global economy. Silver is a much cheaper and less volatile asset compared to gold. Therefore, you are likely to have more trading opportunities in gold than silver.
The best way to practice and get better at gold trading is by opening a demo account that allows you to trade gold without risking your own cash. You should document all your trades so that you can identify areas that need improvement.
You can open a live account here.
