London Session Forex Update: Dollar Mixed, Gold and Bitcoin Lead

Session brief Neutral bias Oct 13, 2026, 07:40 UTC

Claire DuboisEuropean Markets Analyst · ForexR analyst

The dollar trades mixed through the London session as gold and Bitcoin lead a broader advance and EUR/USD and GBP/USD post modest gains, with Fed and ECB speeches due before New York hours.

London Session Snapshot

Ethereum leads the board with a gain of 3.57% on the day, followed by Bitcoin up 1.08% and gold up 0.43%, as risk appetite firms across crypto and metals through the London morning. Among the majors, the euro adds 0.35% and the pound 0.23%, while the Australian dollar edges up a smaller 0.14%. The dollar's picture is not one-directional, though: USD/JPY is down 0.28% and USD/CAD down 0.15%, even as the Nasdaq 100 lags with a 0.71% decline and WTI crude slips 0.90%.

For broader context, the 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.24% on October 9, with the 2-year at 4.80%, up 5 basis points from the prior session; this is background for rate expectations, not a trigger for today's moves.

Three Setups in Focus

EUR/USD trades at 1.11931, sitting between the daily pivot at 1.1174 and R1 at 1.11963 after a day high of 1.11942 already brushing that resistance zone. A clear move through R1 at 1.11963 would open the way toward fresh session highs; a slip back under the daily pivot at 1.1174 would turn focus toward S1 at 1.11315. The daily trend reads down against a mixed 4-hour picture, the 14-day RSI sits near 22.1, and the pair is still down 0.25% over five days, so today's gain runs against the shorter-term trend. Levels like these can be mapped with the pivot point calculator.

Gold trades at 4189.3, also between its daily pivot at 4181.07 and R1 at 4207.55, after a day high of 4200.4. Clearing R1 at 4207.55 would extend an advance that is already up 1.18% over five days; a drop back under the pivot at 4181.07 would shift attention to S1 at 4145.1, close to the day low of 4150.69. The daily trend reads down while the 4-hour trend points up, a split that keeps the near-term picture mixed even after today's gain.

Bitcoin sits at 83863.24, between its pivot at 83126.16 and R1 at 84107.36, with a day high of 83900.64. A push through R1 at 84107.36 would build on a five-day gain of 0.59%; a fall back below the pivot at 83126.16 would bring S1 at 81986.61 into view, not far above the day low of 80922.86. Ethereum's larger 3.57% advance today contrasts with its own five-day loss of 1.61%, underlining how uneven the crypto move has been across coins.

Newsflow and the Calendar Ahead

Coverage from outlets including FXEmpire and FX Street is largely framed as a technical debate over whether the euro and pound can extend their advance against the dollar and whether gold and silver can clear their next resistance bands, while a separate FX Street piece flags technical headwinds for the Australian dollar and ExchangeRates tracks continuing attention on nearby sterling support. None of this newsflow points to a single confirmed cause for today's moves, only a shared focus on whether current levels hold.

The calendar is active through the session: the Fed's Waller is due to speak at 07:45 UTC and the ECB's Escrivá at 08:05 UTC, both as the London session is underway. Later, the US ADP Employment Change four-week average (previous 23.75) lands at 12:15 UTC, Existing Home Sales Change MoM (previous -2%) at 14:00 UTC, the Monthly Budget Statement (previous -166.8, estimate -28) at 18:00 UTC, and the ECB's Lane speaks again at 18:30 UTC. New York joins the session at 12:00 UTC, putting several of these releases inside the US afternoon window. The economic calendar guide explains how to read impact ratings like these.

Bottom Line

The session shows a dollar that is softer against the euro, pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and yen alike, but the daily trend readings disagree with today's moves in several of those pairs, and the 4-hour trend is mixed across most of them too. That split keeps the broader greenback picture neutral rather than clearly leaning one way. Gold and Bitcoin are the clearer movers of the morning, both testing resistance just above their daily pivots, while Ethereum's outsized gain stands apart from the rest of the board. A wider read on how each currency is performing against its peers is available through the currency strength meter, with the Waller and Escrivá speeches, and later US data, still to come before New York trading begins.