Xauusd what is it
Family I · Instruments
Not to be confused with xauusd, 1 pip in xauusd, forex what is it.
XAUUSD is a quotation convention, not a company or a contract: it expresses how many US dollars are needed to buy one troy ounce of gold. The symbol combines the ISO 4217 currency code for gold (XAU) with the code for the US dollar (USD), and it appears on price feeds, exchange screens and retail trading platforms. The quoted figure is a price per ounce, so a move from 2,400 to 2,410 means the metal became ten dollars more expensive per ounce.
What the symbol represents
XAU is the code assigned to gold under ISO 4217, the same standard that assigns USD to the US dollar and EUR to the euro. A pair such as XAUUSD therefore reads as a price: the number of dollars exchanged for one troy ounce. The troy ounce is the standard unit for precious metals and differs from the ordinary avoirdupois ounce used for groceries.
Because gold is quoted in dollars worldwide, XAUUSD is effectively the global benchmark price of the metal. Other gold pairs, such as XAUEUR or XAUGBP, are derived from XAUUSD and the relevant currency pair.
How the price is formed
The reference price for gold is set in the London market through an auction process, and that price is then propagated to dealers, exchanges and brokers. Retail platforms quote their own bid and ask around the prevailing reference, so the XAUUSD price shown on one platform can differ slightly from another. Spreads, financing charges and trading hours also vary by venue and jurisdiction.
Unlike a company share, gold pays no dividend and has no earnings. Its price responds to interest rates, inflation expectations, currency movements and demand from jewellery, industry, central banks and investors.
Worked example
The calculation ignores spread, commission and any financing charge, all of which reduce the net result and vary by broker.
Where the term appears
XAUUSD is listed on spot metals venues, futures exchanges under related contract codes, and retail trading platforms. It is also used by jewellers, refiners and central banks as a reference for valuing holdings. The symbol itself carries no information about contract size, settlement date or leverage; those details come from the venue or product specification.
Often confused with
- xauusd
- This entry defines the symbol XAUUSD itself, whereas the slug xauusd is the bare term; the visible sign is the presence of the words 'what is it' in the query.
- 1 pip in xauusd
- One pip in XAUUSD is a unit of price movement, not the instrument itself; the visible sign is that the pip entry answers 'how much is one pip' rather than 'what is XAUUSD'.
- forex what is it
- Forex, short for foreign exchange, is the global over-the-counter market where national currencies are traded in pairs, one against the other, at exchange rates set by supply and demand.