What is driving gold lower in the Asia session?

Gold is down 0.15% on the day and trading between S1 at 3984.58 and the daily pivot at 4064.5, extending a five-day decline of 3.65%. FX Street reported the metal slipping to a two-month low below $4,050 in the same window oil moved higher, but that is a reported link rather than a confirmed cause.

How are major forex pairs performing today?

Moves are small: EUR/USD is up 0.09%, GBP/USD up 0.04%, USD/CAD down 0.04% and AUD/USD down 0.02%. USD/JPY shows the largest major-pair move, down 0.37% and trading below S1 at 156.201.

What data is scheduled around today's PMI releases?

UK retail sales print at 06:00 UTC ahead of the 07:00 UTC London open, then French PMIs follow at 07:15 UTC, German PMIs at 07:30 UTC, eurozone PMIs at 08:00 UTC and the UK composite PMI at 08:30 UTC. Estimates include a German manufacturing PMI of 54 and services PMI of 53.1, against previous readings of 53.9 and 52.9.

Is risk-off sentiment affecting the whole market today?

Not uniformly: Ethereum is down 3.48% and gold is down 0.15%, but the Nasdaq 100 is up 0.1% and WTI crude is roughly flat at -0.03%. The picture across instruments is mixed rather than a broad move in one direction.

Asia Session Forex Update: Dollar Mixed as Gold, Ether Slide

Session brief Neutral bias Oct 23, 2026, 00:36 UTC

Daniel TanAsia-Pacific Market Analyst · ForexR analyst

The dollar is little changed across majors in early Asia trade, while gold and Ether lead the session's losses and a run of PMI and UK retail sales data is due later today.

Instrument	Last	Day change	Pivot	Daily trend
EUR/USD	1.12242	+0.09%	1.12192	Down
Gold (XAU/USD)	4,018.31	-0.15%	4,064.50	Down
GBP/USD	1.34036	+0.04%	1.33901	Mixed
Bitcoin (BTC/USD)	81,166.53	-0.01%	82,256.70	Mixed
USD/JPY	156.163	-0.37%	157.215	Down
AUD/USD	0.70152	-0.02%	0.70150	Mixed
USD/CAD	1.40007	-0.04%	1.40192	Mixed
Ethereum (ETH/USD)	2,385.27	-3.48%	2,409.85	Mixed
Nasdaq 100 (US100)	28,936.6	+0.10%	29,184.6	Mixed
WTI Crude Oil (XTI/USD)	98.673	-0.03%	98.620	Up
Data as of 2026-10-23 00:31 UTC.

Asia Session Snapshot

At 00:31 UTC in the Asia session, currency majors are holding tight ranges while risk assets show the sharper moves. The Nasdaq 100 (US100) leads the gainers, up 0.1% on the day, with EUR/USD up 0.09% and GBP/USD up 0.04% close behind. On the other side, Ethereum (ETH/USD) is the clear laggard, down 3.48%, followed by USD/JPY down 0.37% and gold down 0.15%. USD/CAD, AUD/USD, Bitcoin and WTI crude are all little changed, down 0.04%, 0.02%, 0.01% and 0.03% respectively.

The dollar's own picture is split rather than one-directional. EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/CAD all point to modest dollar softness today, and USD/JPY's decline reflects the same theme against the yen, yet daily and four-hour trend readings disagree pair by pair: EUR/USD's daily trend points down while its four-hour trend points up, and USD/CAD's daily trend reads mixed against a four-hour trend pointing down. That split keeps today's overall dollar lean neutral. A pair-by-pair comparison is available on the currency strength meter.

Instrument	Last	Change %	Daily trend
EUR/USD	1.12242	+0.09%	Down
GBP/USD	1.34036	+0.04%	Mixed
USD/JPY	156.163	-0.37%	Down
AUD/USD	0.70152	-0.02%	Mixed
USD/CAD	1.40007	-0.04%	Mixed
Gold (XAU/USD)	4018.31	-0.15%	Down
Bitcoin (BTC/USD)	81166.53	-0.01%	Mixed
Ethereum (ETH/USD)	2385.27	-3.48%	Mixed
Nasdaq 100 (US100)	28936.6	+0.1%	Mixed
WTI Crude Oil (XTI/USD)	98.673	-0.03%	Up

Levels in Focus

Three instruments stand out for how close they sit to their pivot levels today, the kind of structure the pivot point calculator maps out using the same daily formula.

Gold is trading between S1 at 3984.58 and the daily pivot at 4064.5, with R1 further above at 4107.92. The day's range runs from a low of 4017.1 to a high of 4032.57, the daily RSI sits at 35.2, and the five-day change stands at -3.65%. According to FX Street, the metal slipped to a two-month low below $4,050 in the same window oil moved higher, though that is a reported pairing rather than a confirmed cause.

USD/JPY sits below S1 at 156.201, beyond the bottom of its pivot ladder, with the pivot itself at 157.215 and R1 at 157.762 above that. The daily RSI reads 40.7 against a five-day change of -1.14%, and the day's range spans a low of 156.089 to a high of 156.792. Forex.com described the pair sinking toward familiar support as risk-off sentiment appeared to build.

Ethereum is the session's largest mover, down 3.48% and trading between S1 at 2340.41 and the pivot at 2409.85, with R1 at 2453.53 above that. The daily RSI stands at 38.5, and the day's range runs from a low of 2366.16 to a high of 2479.28.

Yields and Newsflow

US Treasury yields eased at the October 22 close, with the 2-year down 16 basis points to 4.65% and the 10-year down 17 basis points to 4.96%, context for the broader tone rather than a stated cause of today's moves.

Early coverage leans toward precious-metals weakness and a firmer tone in havens, with FX Street and Forex.com both flagging pressure in gold, silver and the yen, while ExchangeRates and Forex.com separately carry pieces weighing the euro's medium-term direction against European fiscal questions.

Calendar Ahead

UK retail sales data lands at 06:00 UTC today, ahead of the London open at 07:00 UTC, with the headline month-on-month estimate at -0.1% against a previous reading of 0.5%, alongside the ex-fuel and year-on-year components. After London opens, French services, composite and manufacturing PMIs follow at 07:15 UTC, with German manufacturing PMI estimated at 54 and services PMI at 53.1 due at 07:30 UTC against previous readings of 53.9 and 52.9. Eurozone composite, services and manufacturing PMIs are due at 08:00 UTC, and the UK S&P Global composite PMI follows at 08:30 UTC against a previous reading of 52; the full list is tracked on the economic calendar guide.

Bottom Line

The session's clearest moves sit outside the major currency pairs, in Ethereum's 3.48% decline and gold's slip to within range of S1 at 3984.58, while EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD and USD/CAD stay within a few tenths of a percent of unchanged. With daily and four-hour trend signals disagreeing across the majors, the dollar read into the London open stays neutral rather than leaning one way, with UK retail sales and a run of PMI releases between 06:00 and 08:30 UTC the next scheduled inputs.