The short answer
The standard Ichimoku settings are 9/26/52, and many traders also use 7/22/44, 10/30/60 or the doubled 20/60/120 for markets that trade most of the day, like gold. We tested all four on two years of hourly XAUUSD data with a $0.30 per ounce cost per trade. All four were positive in both years, and the classic 9/26/52 made the most in total. On the daily chart since 2015, all four were also positive.
That makes Ichimoku one of the stronger results in our indicator settings tests. The honest caveat: it is a trend-following tool tested in a powerful gold bull market, and most of the profit came from long trades.
What Ichimoku measures
Ichimoku Kinko Hyo, “one-glance equilibrium chart”, has five lines:
- Tenkan-sen (9): the midpoint of the last 9 bars’ high and low. A fast trend line.
- Kijun-sen (26): the midpoint of the last 26 bars’ high and low. A slower trend line and a common stop reference.
- Senkou Span A: the average of Tenkan and Kijun, plotted 26 bars ahead.
- Senkou Span B (52): the midpoint of the last 52 bars’ high and low, plotted 26 bars ahead. Spans A and B form the cloud.
- Chikou Span: the close plotted 26 bars back.
The simplest reading: price above the cloud is an uptrend, below is a downtrend, and inside is a market without a clear trend. A Tenkan cross above Kijun is a bullish momentum signal; it carries more weight above the cloud.
The Ichimoku settings gold traders use
| Setting | Origin | Character on gold |
|---|---|---|
| 9/26/52 | The original, built for a six-day trading week | Standard; what most charts show |
| 7/22/44 | Shortened for a five-day week | Slightly faster |
| 10/30/60 | Common alternative for 24-hour markets | Slightly slower |
| 20/60/120 | Doubled for markets that trade nearly all day | Much slower, fewer signals |
Why gold’s volatility changes things
Gold trades almost 23 hours a day, five days a week, so 26 hourly bars covers barely more than a day. That is one argument for slower settings on intraday charts. Volatility also matters: gold’s average daily range on COMEX futures was about $34 in 2024, $64 in 2025 and around $123 so far in 2026, and hourly ATR(14) averaged $17.49 over our test window. Because Ichimoku lines are built from highs and lows, a volatile market widens the cloud and puts Kijun further from price. A stop at Kijun becomes larger, so the position size calculator matters more than ever.
We tested 4 Ichimoku settings on 2 years of hourly gold data
How we tested. COMEX gold futures (GC=F) 1-hour bars from 30 October 2024 to 30 October 2026, 11,445 bars, plus daily bars from January 2015. Rule: go long when Tenkan crosses above Kijun and the close is above the cloud; go short when Tenkan crosses below Kijun and the close is below the cloud. Exit on the opposite Tenkan/Kijun cross. Chikou is not used. Signals are taken on the close and filled at the next bar’s open. Each trade is 1 ounce and pays $0.30 per ounce for spread and slippage. Results are in US dollars per ounce; maximum drawdown is the largest fall in closed-trade equity. Year 1 ends on 30 October 2025.
For context, holding gold gained about $1,194 an ounce in year 1 and about $14 in year 2, with a run to roughly $5,627 in January 2026 and a sharp fall in between.
Hourly (H1) results
| Setting | Trades | Win rate | Avg per trade | Profit factor | Net result | Max drawdown | Year 1 | Year 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ichimoku 9/26/52 | 208 | 45.2% | +$10.33 | 1.69 | +$2,148 | $526 | +$652 | +$1,496 |
| Ichimoku 7/22/44 | 249 | 39.0% | +$7.26 | 1.48 | +$1,809 | $510 | +$560 | +$1,249 |
| Ichimoku 10/30/60 | 177 | 48.0% | +$11.97 | 1.84 | +$2,118 | $615 | +$706 | +$1,412 |
| Ichimoku 20/60/120 | 83 | 51.8% | +$18.39 | 1.88 | +$1,527 | $415 | +$823 | +$704 |
Daily (D1) results since 2015
| Setting | Trades | Win rate | Avg per trade | Profit factor | Net result | Max drawdown | 2015–20 | 2021–26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ichimoku 9/26/52 | 59 | 42.4% | +$40.23 | 2.69 | +$2,373 | $237 | +$241 | +$2,132 |
| Ichimoku 7/22/44 | 60 | 40.0% | +$13.71 | 1.49 | +$823 | $399 | +$60 | +$762 |
| Ichimoku 10/30/60 | 53 | 41.5% | +$28.35 | 1.90 | +$1,503 | $420 | −$70 | +$1,573 |
| Ichimoku 20/60/120 | 22 | 59.1% | +$119.79 | 11.35 | +$2,635 | $143 | +$411 | +$2,225 |
What the results say, in plain English
- All four settings were positive on H1 in both years. Not every indicator managed that: every RSI and stochastic setting lost, and every Supertrend setting lost in year 2.
- The cloud filter helps. Unlike a plain moving-average cross, the rule ignored Tenkan/Kijun crosses on the “wrong” side of the cloud. That kept it out of many choppy trades and is the likely reason drawdowns ($415 to $615) were smaller than for the EMA crosses we tested.
- Year 2 was better than year 1, even though gold made almost no net progress in year 2. The rule profited from both the January 2026 rally and the fall that followed: for 9/26/52, short trades added about $337 an ounce over the two years.
- The slow 20/60/120 setting lost on shorts (about −$166) and depended on longs. Faster settings caught more of the down-moves.
- Daily numbers need care. The 20/60/120 daily rule took just 22 trades in almost 12 years. A profit factor of 11.35 on 22 trades says more about one long bull run than about the setting. Almost every daily setting made most of its money after 2020.
How to use Ichimoku on different timeframes
Scalping (M1 to M5). Ichimoku adds little here. The cloud is built from minutes of data and moves with every spike. If you scalp, use the H1 or H4 cloud for direction and something simpler for timing.
Intraday (M15 to H1). Use the H1 cloud as your bias: only look for longs when price is above it. 9/26/52 or 10/30/60 both worked in our test. A Tenkan/Kijun cross above the cloud, or a pullback to Kijun that holds, are the common entry points.
Swing (H4 to D1). This is Ichimoku’s home ground. A daily close above the cloud with a rising Kijun is a widely watched bullish backdrop. Expect few signals and long holds, and size positions for the wider stop.
A combination idea: Ichimoku plus market structure
Ichimoku tells you whether a trend exists; market structure tells you where it is likely to be wrong.
- On H4, note whether price is above or below the cloud and which way Kijun is sloping.
- Drop to H1 and wait for a pullback toward Kijun or the top of the cloud.
- Enter when H1 makes a higher low and breaks the last minor high (for longs).
- Place the stop below that higher low, not at an arbitrary distance, and size it to your risk.
If you want a single number for trend strength alongside the cloud, our ADX test on gold shows how that indicator behaved. And for a simpler trend filter, compare the moving averages lesson.
Common mistakes with Ichimoku on gold
- Trading Tenkan/Kijun crosses inside the cloud. Inside the cloud, there is no trend by definition, and crosses there whipsaw.
- Using Kijun as a stop without checking its distance. After a fast move, Kijun can sit two or three hourly ATRs away from price. Size down accordingly with the position size calculator.
- Reading every line at once. Five lines can produce a “reason” for any trade. Decide in advance which two or three conditions you need.
- Trusting tiny samples. The best-looking daily row in our table had only 22 trades.
- Expecting it to work in ranges. Ichimoku is a trend tool. When gold ranges for weeks, it will give back profits.
These results come from simple mechanical rules on past data during an exceptional period for gold. They are not recommendations or signals. Trend-following rules can lose for long stretches when markets range.
Test it yourself
Most charting platforms let you change Ichimoku inputs in seconds. Pick one setting, write your rule (we used Tenkan/Kijun cross plus position relative to the cloud), and test it on your broker’s XAUUSD data with your own spread. Compare at least two separate periods. Check how many trades you get: fewer than 50 is not enough to judge a profit factor. Our backtesting lesson explains how to log the results, and the gold indicator settings hub lets you compare Ichimoku with 11 other indicators tested the same way.
Test it with other traders
Ichimoku is easier to learn when someone can look at your chart and ask why you took a trade. In the XAUUSD Global community, traders compare cloud setups, test settings together and share their journals. The first month is free, then $19.99 a month.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best Ichimoku settings for gold?
In our two-year hourly test, all four common settings (9/26/52, 7/22/44, 10/30/60 and 20/60/120) were positive after a $0.30 per ounce cost and positive in both years. The classic 9/26/52 made the most in total, plus $2,148 per ounce over 208 trades; 10/30/60 had a slightly higher profit factor. No setting was clearly superior.
Should I use 9/26/52 or 20/60/120 on XAUUSD?
The doubled 20/60/120 setting is slower and traded 83 times on hourly gold in two years, versus 208 for 9/26/52. It made more per trade and had the smallest drawdown, but its short trades lost money. 9/26/52 traded more and made money on both longs and shorts.
Does the Ichimoku cloud work on gold?
As a trend filter, it held up better than most indicators in our test. A rule that only bought Tenkan-Kijun crosses above the cloud and sold crosses below it was positive on hourly and daily gold. But the test period was a strong gold trend, and most of the profit came from long trades.
What timeframe is best for Ichimoku on gold?
Ichimoku was designed for daily charts and works most clearly on H4 and D1, where the cloud reflects weeks of price action. On H1 it still worked in our test. On M1 to M5 the cloud changes so fast that it adds little beyond a moving average.
What do Tenkan, Kijun and the cloud mean?
Tenkan-sen is the midpoint of the last 9 bars’ high and low, Kijun-sen the midpoint of the last 26, and the cloud (Senkou spans A and B) is drawn 26 bars ahead from the average of the two and the 52-bar midpoint. Price above the cloud is read as an uptrend, below as a downtrend, inside as no clear trend.
Why are Ichimoku results so good on the daily chart?
Partly because gold rose so much after 2020, and the rule spent most of that time long. The 20/60/120 daily setting took only 22 trades in nearly 12 years, which is far too few to trust its profit factor of 11.35. Treat small samples with great caution.
Sources and further reading
- CME Group — Gold futures overview — Contract specifications and trading hours for COMEX gold
- CFTC — Commitments of Traders — Weekly futures positioning, including gold
- Investor.gov — Stop order — How stop orders work, and their limits in fast markets
External sites are independent of XAUUSD Global. Check dates and data yourself.