CRTLAB Answers · measured, not opinion
What time does gold make its high or low of the day?
Answered with real trades on 1 markets of CRTLAB's own price history, 2017–2026. The rules were fixed before any result was seen, and every one of them is on this page.
The answer
Most often between 08:00 and 12:00 New York. Those four hours printed gold's high or low of the day 31.3% of the time across 2,429 trading days since 2017, 2.5× what the same hours get when each day's hours are shuffled into a random order (12.6%). The strongest single hour was 09:00–10:00.
The short answer
The 18:00 open and the last hours before 17:00 always print a lot of highs and lows, in real data and in shuffled data alike: extremes cluster at the start and end of any stretch of prices. The hours that beat the control are the ones that matter.
Hour by hour
The share of gold trading days whose high, and whose low, printed in each New York hour, next to the random-order control.
| Hour (New York) | High of the day | Low of the day | Random-order control | Against control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00–19:00 | 10.2% | 11.0% | 12.6% | 0.8× |
| 19:00–20:00 | 3.4% | 3.3% | 5.9% | 0.6× |
| 20:00–21:00 | 4.9% | 6.1% | 4.7% | 1.2× |
| 21:00–22:00 | 4.9% | 4.7% | 4.0% | 1.2× |
| 22:00–23:00 | 2.5% | 3.0% | 3.5% | 0.8× |
| 23:00–00:00 | 1.1% | 1.7% | 3.4% | 0.4× |
| 00:00–01:00 | 1.0% | 1.8% | 3.2% | 0.4× |
| 01:00–02:00 | 1.8% | 1.9% | 3.3% | 0.6× |
| 02:00–03:00 | 2.9% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 1.0× |
| 03:00–04:00 | 3.6% | 4.0% | 3.0% | 1.3× |
| 04:00–05:00 | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2.9% | 0.7× |
| 05:00–06:00 | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.9% | 0.8× |
| 06:00–07:00 | 2.1% | 1.6% | 2.9% | 0.6× |
| 07:00–08:00 | 2.5% | 2.8% | 3.0% | 0.9× |
| 08:00–09:00 | 8.0% | 8.4% | 2.9% | 2.8× |
| 09:00–10:00 | 8.5% | 9.2% | 3.0% | 2.9× |
| 10:00–11:00 | 8.3% | 8.9% | 3.1% | 2.8× |
| 11:00–12:00 | 6.5% | 4.9% | 3.5% | 1.6× |
| 12:00–13:00 | 4.1% | 3.0% | 3.5% | 1.0× |
| 13:00–14:00 | 4.6% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 1.1× |
| 14:00–15:00 | 4.2% | 4.1% | 4.7% | 0.9× |
| 15:00–16:00 | 4.7% | 4.2% | 5.9% | 0.8× |
| 16:00–17:00 | 6.1% | 3.6% | 11.3% | 0.4× |
By session
The high and the low printed in the same session on 11.3% of days. The London kill zone (02:00–05:00) printed one of them on 17.7% of days; the first hour of the US cash session (09:30–10:30) on 21.3%.
| Session | High of the day | Low of the day |
|---|---|---|
| Asia (18:00–02:00) | 29.6% | 33.4% |
| London (02:00–07:00) | 12.9% | 13.4% |
| New York AM (07:00–12:00) | 33.8% | 34.2% |
| New York PM (12:00–17:00) | 23.7% | 19.0% |
What this means for your trading
- If you trade gold on the 5-minute chart, the New York morning is where the day's high or low most often prints: 31.3% of days from four hours.
- This tells you when, not which side. Replay the morning with the future hidden and practise calling the side before it prints.
- Compare with every market pooled on the main time-of-day answer.
Test it yourself
gold with yesterday's levels drawn. Replay any morning from 08:00 New York and call the day's high or low before it prints. The chart opens in your browser with nothing to install — 10,000 candles free, no card. Replay a New York morning on gold.
How we measured it
CRTLAB's own 5-minute price history, 3 January 2017 to 19 October 2026, on 1 markets: Gold (XAU/USD). A trading day runs 18:00 to 17:00 New York and carries the date it ends on; Monday to Friday only, and a day counts only if it is complete (half-holidays are left out).
The high and low are of the whole trading day (18:00 to 17:00). The hour is the New York hour of the 5-minute candle that printed it (the first, if two tie).
THE CONTROL. Each day is cut into its clock hours, each keeping its own move, high and low; the hours are re-chained in a random order ten times per day and where the high and low land is counted.
Every rule was fixed before any result was seen.
Frequently asked questions
What time does gold make its high or low of the day?
Most often between 08:00 and 12:00 New York. Those four hours printed gold's high or low of the day 31.3% of the time across 2,429 trading days since 2017, 2.5× what the same hours get when each day's hours are shuffled into a random order (12.6%). The strongest single hour was 09:00–10:00.
Does London make gold's high or low?
The London kill zone (02:00–05:00 New York) printed gold's high on 8.5% of days and its low on 9.4%.
Which session makes gold's high of the day?
New York AM 33.8%, New York PM 23.7%, Asia 29.6% (including the 18:00 open), London 12.9%.
The average says what usually happens. Replay tells you if your version beats it.
Replay real market history candle by candle with the future hidden, take the setup by your own rules, and every trade is scored for you — on 38 markets and every timeframe.
Replay a New York morning on gold