Forex Market Update: Dollar Edges Higher Into London Session

Session brief Bullish bias Oct 8, 2026, 07:19 UTC

Claire DuboisEuropean Markets Analyst · ForexR analyst

The dollar is firmer across the board in London trade, with EUR/USD and GBP/USD pinned under their daily pivots while WTI crude surges and markets await today's ECB accounts and a run of central bank speeches.

London Session Overview: Dollar Firms as Risk Tone Softens

The US dollar holds a steady-to-firm tone as London trading runs at 07:16 UTC. EUR/USD is down 0.05% on the day, GBP/USD is off 0.11%, and AUD/USD has slipped 0.18%, while USD/JPY is up 0.06% and USD/CAD is up 0.01% — a broadly dollar-positive lean across the major pairs. Readers who want a single-screen view of that dollar strength across currencies can check the currency strength meter.

Away from the majors, WTI crude oil is the session's standout, up 2.43% and trading above its R1 level at 89.934. Gold adds 0.35% even as its daily trend stays down. Bitcoin and the Nasdaq 100 sit at the bottom of the board, both down 0.51%, with Ethereum off 0.21%.

Market Snapshot

Central Bank Docket: ECB Accounts Headline a Busy Speaker Calendar

The London session carries a dense run of central bank risk today. The Eurogroup Meeting opens the docket at 08:00 UTC, followed by Fed's Waller at 08:30 UTC and BoE's Greene at 09:15 UTC. ECB's Lane speaks at 10:00 UTC, ahead of the session's highest-impact item, the ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts, due at 11:30 UTC. US Initial Jobless Claims follow at 12:30 UTC, just as New York joins the session, with a previous reading of 197 against an estimate of 200. BoE's Lombardelli is scheduled for 13:00 UTC and Fed's Musalem rounds out the day at 17:40 UTC. For a primer on sequencing event risk through the day, see the economic calendar guide.

EUR/USD: Capped Under the Daily Pivot

EUR/USD trades at 1.11897, between S1 at 1.11521 and the daily pivot at 1.12071, with both the daily and four-hour trend pointing down and the daily RSI at 22.9. The pair is down 0.05% on the day and off 1.23% over the past five days, with the daily ATR running near 62.4 pips. A reclaim of the pivot at 1.12071 would open the way toward R1 at 1.12503, a reading that would be undercut by a slip back below S1 at 1.11521. On the other side, a break through S1 at 1.11521 would keep the pair under pressure, a view that holds only while price stays below the pivot at 1.12071.

GBP/USD: Sitting Just Above Range Support

GBP/USD is at 1.31968, down 0.11% on the day and 0.49% over five days, positioned between S1 at 1.3178 and the daily pivot at 1.32267, with both the daily and four-hour trends still lower. A recovery back above the pivot at 1.32267 would open the path to R1 at 1.32603, invalidated by a drop back under S1 at 1.3178. Conversely, a break of S1 at 1.3178 would extend the slide, a reading undone by a reclaim of the 1.32267 pivot. The pivot point calculator lays out how these intraday levels are derived.

Gold: Above Pivot but Trend Still Lower

Gold trades at 4125.00, between the daily pivot at 4120.39 and R1 at 4174.44, up 0.35% on the day even as both its daily and four-hour trends point down and the daily RSI sits at 36.5. That split between position and trend keeps the picture mixed: a push through R1 at 4174.44 would extend the advance, while a fall back below the pivot at 4120.39 would open the way to S1 at 4056.58.

Newsflow: Bearish Euro Calls and a Metals Debate

Coverage from FX Street carries a cluster of bearish Euro calls into the session, while a separate piece from the same outlet flags a possible fresh downside leg for AUD/USD. Action Forex, meanwhile, is weighing whether gold's recent slide has further to run, and FX Street also notes silver easing alongside elevated yields and geopolitical tension. This newsflow reflects the themes circulating as the session gets underway, as reported by FX Street and Action Forex, rather than a confirmed driver of today's price action.

Yields in Context

US Treasury yields from October 7 put the 2-year at 4.77%, down 2 basis points, and the 10-year at 5.28%, up 1 basis point, leaving the 2s10s curve near 51 basis points — context for the dollar's tone rather than a trigger for today's moves.

Bottom Line

With the dollar firmer against EUR/USD, GBP/USD and AUD/USD, and the Euro calendar carrying its heaviest item of the day at 11:30 UTC, the session leans dollar-positive, though gold's resilience above its pivot and WTI's sharp advance show the dollar's grip is not uniform. EUR/USD and GBP/USD both sit just under their daily pivots, at 1.12071 and 1.32267 respectively, leaving the ECB accounts and the run of central bank speakers as the next test for that positioning.