What the chart shows
The prior session (5 Nov 2026) ran from $4,067.0 to $4,155.8. The next session (6 Nov 2026) traded from $4,035.1 to $4,116.2 and its last hourly close was $4,074.9.
It broke below the prior low first at Fri 01:00 UTC and closed back above it: the break did not hold.
What are the prior-day high and low?
The previous session's high and low are the two most watched intraday levels in gold. Many orders sit just beyond them: stops of traders on the wrong side and breakout entries. A session either stays inside yesterday's range, breaks one side, or takes out one side and comes back.
The rule that found it
Sessions run from the reopen at 22:00 or 23:00 UTC to the close the next evening. The previous session's highest high and lowest low are drawn as lines, and the latest session's bars are checked against them: a break is a high above the prior high or a low below the prior low; a hold beyond it is a close outside the line.
How traders use it
- Mark both levels before the session opens; they frame the day.
- Breakout traders wait for a close beyond a level and a retest that holds, put the stop back inside the old range and aim for a multiple of the risk.
- Fade traders watch for a break that fails (a wick through and a close back inside), enter back toward the range, place the stop beyond the wick and aim for the middle or the other side of the prior range.
Education only: this explains a pattern that already happened on a past chart. It is not a signal or a level to trade today, and not personal advice.