Holiday hours in gold trading

Holiday hours are changes to normal trading times around public holidays. US holidays such as Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas bring early closes or closures for COMEX and US-based liquidity. UK bank holidays thin out London. Good Friday, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day usually close gold markets altogether.

How it applies to gold trading

On a holiday, XAUUSD may still be quoted but with far fewer participants. Spreads widen, moves can be erratic and the daily candle may be very short, which distorts ATR, pivots and the previous day high and low. Platforms publish holiday schedules in advance, often with an early close time; open positions remain open, and swaps still apply.

The days around holidays matter too. The Friday after Thanksgiving and the week between Christmas and New Year are often quiet, but a single large order can move a thin market sharply.

Worked example

Example (hypothetical numbers): on a US holiday gold trades in a $9 range against a normal $40. The next day’s pivot calculation uses that short candle, producing levels just a few dollars apart that are blown through in the first hour. A trader using those pivots for fades is stopped three times.

A common mistake

Forgetting an early close and holding a position meant to be closed “at the end of the session,” which ends hours sooner than usual.

See also: Trading hours, Spread widening, Daily break, Flash crash.

Frequently asked questions