Gold daily range

Over the last 12 months gold's typical day moved about 92 US dollars from high to low, roughly 2 percent of its price, or about 920 pips counting 10 cents as a pip.

The daily range is the distance between a day's high and its low. It says how much room price covered that day, not which way it closed.

Gold's range has grown with its price. In 2017, when an ounce cost about 1,260 dollars, a typical day moved about 11 dollars. In 2026, with gold above 4,000 dollars, a typical day moves about 100.

Gold's typical daily range, year by year

The table shows the median weekday range for each year: half of all days moved less than this, half moved more. The percentage column divides the range by the day's opening price, which is the fairer way to compare years.

YearTypical day (median)As a share of priceAverage price that year
2017$11.610.92%$1,262
2018$11.120.87%$1,269
2019$13.300.94%$1,394
2020$24.901.35%$1,772
2021$20.891.16%$1,799
2022$22.481.26%$1,802
2023$20.701.06%$1,944
2024$29.771.22%$2,390
2025$51.281.48%$3,448
2026 (to 23 Sep)$100.412.20%$4,556

The last 12 months in detail

Over the 261 weekdays to 23 September 2026 the median day moved 91.89 dollars. One day in ten moved less than 53.63 dollars and one day in ten moved more than 188.10. The largest single day moved 879.38 dollars.

Over the last 30 trading days the median was 94.65 dollars. Wednesday was slightly the busiest weekday (about 99 dollars) and the other four days sat between 88 and 91.

Turning dollars into pips

Gold is quoted in dollars and cents, and traders count its pips in two ways. Most count 10 cents as one pip, so a 92 dollar day is about 920 pips. MetaTrader shows gold's smallest step as a point of 1 cent, so the same day is about 9,200 points.

What a move is worth to you depends on your lot size and your broker's contract size. Where one lot is 100 ounces, every dollar gold moves is 100 dollars per lot, so a 92 dollar day is 9,200 dollars on one lot and 92 dollars on 0.01 lot.

Questions people ask

How many pips does gold move in a day?

About 920 pips on a typical day over the last 12 months, counting 10 cents as a pip. That is a median high to low range of about 92 dollars.

What is gold's average daily range?

The average weekday range over the last 12 months was 113.97 dollars, higher than the median of 91.89 because a few very large days pull the average up.

Why does gold move more now than a few years ago?

Mostly because its price is higher. Measured as a share of price the range has also grown, from under 1 percent in 2017 to about 2 percent in 2026.

Source: Measured by FXSynapse AI on our broker's XAUUSD daily bars (server time UTC), weekdays from 2017 to 23 Sep 2026. Other brokers' highs and lows differ slightly. Past ranges describe what gold did, not what it will do.

Also called: how many pips does gold move in a day, gold average daily range, how much does gold move per day, gold daily range in pips

Related terms

Gold trading hoursGold pip valueXAUUSDPip

A definition, not financial advice. Trading carries a risk of loss.

All 64 terms