Live gold price and how it is set

What the spot number is

The spot gold price is the current market price for immediate delivery of one troy ounce of gold, quoted in US dollars. It is set by the world’s largest bullion banks and electronic exchanges, with the most active price discovery happening in London and New York. For Australian traders, the spot price is the base number every broker uses to derive their own buy and sell quotes.

Because gold is traded globally in US dollars, Australian traders always face currency risk. A move in XAU/USD is multiplied by the AUD/USD exchange rate when converted to your account. If gold rises 1% but the Australian dollar strengthens 1% against the US dollar, your profit in A$ may be close to zero.

Why your broker’s price differs

Your broker quotes a two-way price: a bid (sell) and an ask (buy). The difference between the two is the spread, and it is the first cost of every trade. The spread is not a fixed number — it depends on market liquidity, volatility and the broker’s own pricing model. During the London and New York overlap, spreads are typically at their narrowest; during the Asian afternoon or around major data releases, they can widen sharply.

The live price shown on this site is the mid-point of the bid and ask. When you open a buy trade, you pay the ask; when you close, you receive the bid. That means you start every trade slightly underwater by the size of the spread. The calculators here can include a spread assumption so your profit and loss estimates reflect the real cost.

How to read the change and refresh

The change shown next to the live price is the difference from the previous day’s close, expressed in both points and percentage. A point in gold is 0.01, equal to one pip for XAU/USD. If the price moves from 4275.00 to 4276.50, that is a 1.50 point rise, or 150 pips. The percentage change puts that in context of the overall price level.

The price refreshes every few seconds while the market is open. Because gold trades nearly 24 hours a day from Monday morning in Sydney to Saturday morning Australian time, the refresh never stops for long. The calculators pull the latest price when you load them, but you should refresh before entering a trade if the market is moving fast.

How this price feeds the calculators

The calculators use the live spot price as the default entry or exit level. You can override it with any price you like — for example, a limit order level or a support zone. The pip value and margin calculations then update instantly, so you can see the effect of a different price before you commit.

If you are planning a trade around a specific news event, enter the expected price after the event to see how your risk changes. The pivot point calculator also uses the previous session’s high, low and close, which are derived from the same live feed.

Where the number on this page comes from and what its latency means

The live price shown here is a composite reference rate sourced from aggregated interbank and institutional gold quotes, updated approximately once per second during active market hours. It is not a tradable quote from any broker, but a benchmark that reflects the midpoint of where large dealers are currently willing to transact XAU/USD. The page receives this feed from a third-party market data provider, which normalises prices from multiple liquidity sources to smooth out outliers and brief spikes.

Latency is the delay between a price change in the underlying market and its appearance on your screen, typically a fraction of a second to a few seconds for this feed. In fast-moving conditions, even a two-second delay can mean the displayed price is no longer executable. For gold, which often moves several dollars per minute during news events, stale data can mislead your entry or exit decisions. Always confirm the current price on your trading platform before acting, especially around scheduled releases like US CPI or non-farm payrolls.

The reference price is a midpoint, not a bid or ask, so it ignores the spread your broker will add. It also excludes any mark-up or execution slippage. Treat it as a starting point for analysis, not a promise of where you can trade. During weekends or market closures, the feed freezes at the last available price, and no new ticks arrive until trading resumes. Your broker’s own feed will show the same pause, but its bid and ask will still bracket the last midpoint.

Why a broker's quote differs from a reference price

A broker’s quote differs from a reference price because the broker adds a spread and adjusts for its own liquidity, risk, and execution model. The reference price is a raw midpoint, while a broker shows a bid and ask that include a mark-up. For gold, that mark-up can vary from a fraction of a dollar to several dollars per ounce, depending on market volatility and the broker’s pricing engine. FxPro, the broker behind Kalgoorlie Markets, sources its gold prices from multiple liquidity providers and applies its own spread, which changes with market conditions.

The difference also stems from timing: your broker’s feed may be faster or slower than the reference, so the two prices are rarely sampled at the same microsecond. In a fast market, gold can move $0.50 or more in a single second, making any comparison misleading. Additionally, brokers hedge their exposure and may widen spreads during low liquidity periods, such as the rollover between Asian and European sessions, or around major news. That widening is a risk management tool, not an error.

Regulatory and operational factors also play a role. FxPro UK Limited, which serves Australian residents, is licensed by the FCA and CySEC but not by ASIC, so it operates under UK and EU rules. Those rules do not set a fixed spread for gold; they only require fair execution. The broker’s quote will always be a few cents or more away from the reference midpoint because that difference is how it earns revenue without charging a separate commission on standard accounts. The gap reflects the cost of liquidity and the broker’s margin.

Bid, ask and the gap between them

The bid is the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for gold, and the ask is the lowest price a seller will accept; the gap between them is the spread. On this page you see only a single reference price, but every broker quote consists of a bid and an ask. For XAU/USD, the spread is quoted in cents per ounce, and at a reference price around 4275.0, a typical spread might be a few cents, though it can widen to $0.50 or more during high volatility. The spread is your immediate cost of entering and exiting a trade.

The bid-ask gap exists because market makers and brokers need to cover their costs and manage risk. The wider the gap, the more the price must move in your favour before you break even. For a 0.10-lot position (10 oz), a $0.20 spread costs you A$2.00 before any other fees. That might seem small, but on a scalping strategy with many trades, spreads compound quickly. The gap also widens when liquidity thins, such as during the Sydney afternoon or around US market holidays, because fewer participants are quoting gold.

When you place a market order, you buy at the ask and sell at the bid, so you start every trade down by the spread. Limit orders can reduce this cost if you wait for the market to come to your price, but you risk missing the trade. The spread on FxPro’s platforms—MT4, MT5, cTrader, and the FxPro app—is variable and depends on the liquidity available at that moment. Always check the live bid and ask on your platform, not the midpoint shown here, because the midpoint hides the true transaction cost.

What a stale quote looks like and what to do about it

A stale quote is a price that has not updated for several seconds or minutes while the underlying market has moved, and it often appears frozen or out of sync with other sources. On this page, if the timestamp next to the price is older than a few seconds during active hours, the quote is stale. On a trading platform, a stale quote may show a spread that is unusually narrow or a price that does not change when you refresh. For gold, a stale quote during a news spike can be off by $1 or more, enough to trigger a bad entry if you act on it.

If you suspect a stale quote, first check the timestamp and compare the price with another independent source, such as a major financial news website. Do not place an order based on a price you cannot verify as current. On FxPro’s platforms, you can right-click the market watch window and select refresh, or close and reopen the chart. If the price still does not update, check your internet connection and the broker’s server status. In extreme volatility, brokers may temporarily suspend quoting or switch to ‘close only’ mode, which is a sign that liquidity has dried up.

When a quote is stale, the safest action is to wait for a fresh tick before trading. Some platforms will reject an order if the price has moved beyond a certain tolerance, protecting you from bad fills. Do not chase a stale price with a market order, because you may be filled at a much worse rate. For Australian traders, funding via PayID or bank transfer is instant, but that speed does not help if the quote itself is unreliable. Always confirm the live bid and ask on your broker’s platform, and treat any price older than a few seconds as informational only.

The reference price on this page comes from aggregated OTC feeds

The number displayed here is a reference price compiled from multiple over-the-counter gold feeds, not a price you can trade at directly. It represents a mid-market level that aggregates quotes from major liquidity providers in the wholesale gold market. The exact source is proprietary, but it is designed to reflect the current spot XAU/USD price within a short delay. For Australian traders, this means the figure you see is indicative only and may differ from the executable price on any platform, including FxPro’s MT4, MT5, cTrader, or the FxPro app.

Latency on this page is typically a few seconds under normal market conditions, but it can increase during volatile periods or when liquidity thins. The price is updated frequently, yet it is not real-time tick data; it is a snapshot that lags live dealing prices by a small margin. If you are watching gold around $4275.0, a delay of even one second can matter when news hits. Always compare with your broker’s live quote before acting, because the gap between this reference and the actual tradable price can widen when volatility spikes.

This reference price is useful for tracking the market and for the calculators on this site, but it is not a quote from FxPro or any other broker. FxPro’s own feed will include its liquidity providers’ quotes, which are updated independently and may show a different number at the same moment. The reference here is a benchmark, not a promise of execution. For Australian residents, remember that FxPro UK Limited is not ASIC-licensed, so the price you see on FxPro’s platform comes from an offshore entity, and its latency may differ from local expectations.

Your broker’s quote includes a spread and its own liquidity mix

A broker’s quote for XAU/USD will differ from this page’s reference price mainly because the broker adds a spread around the wholesale mid-rate. The reference here is a raw mid-price, while FxPro’s quote on MT4, MT5, cTrader, or its app includes a bid and an ask that are each offset from that mid-level. The size of that offset—the spread—is not fixed; it depends on market volatility, liquidity, and the broker’s pricing model. FxPro does not publish a static spread for gold, so the difference you see can vary from moment to moment and from account type to account type.

Another reason for the difference is the specific liquidity providers connected to the broker. FxPro aggregates prices from multiple banks and non-bank market makers, and each provider quotes its own bid and ask. The broker then selects or blends these quotes, which can result in a price that is slightly above or below the reference on this page. During fast markets, this divergence can grow because the reference may lag while the broker’s feed updates in real time. Australian traders should not assume the reference price is the “true” price; it is only a midpoint benchmark.

The reference price also does not include any commission or swap that may apply to a gold trade. FxPro’s quote is the raw tradable price, but your total cost includes the spread, any commission (depending on the account type), and overnight swap if you hold past the rollover. On a 1-lot position (100 oz), a one-pip move (0.01) is worth $1.00, so even a small difference in the quote can affect your outcome. Because FxPro UK Limited is not ASIC-licensed, Australian residents should also consider that their trades are executed offshore, which can affect execution quality and the quotes they receive.