London Session Forex Market Update: A Split Tape

Session brief Neutral bias Oct 22, 2026, 07:54 UTC

Claire DuboisEuropean Markets Analyst · ForexR analyst

Euro and sterling are barely changed in London while gold, oil, crypto and the Nasdaq move more. The dollar lean is neutral into Bailey at 10:50 UTC.

What Is Moving in the London Session

London is underway, and New York joins at 12:00 UTC. The foreign-exchange majors are not leading the percentages. EUR/USD is up 0.05% and GBP/USD is up 0.11%. AUD/USD is down 0.16% and USD/CAD is down 0.2%. USD/JPY is the FX outlier, down 0.52%. Away from FX, WTI crude oil is up 1.96%, gold is down 1.23%, Ethereum is down 1.69%, the Nasdaq 100 is down 1.72% and Bitcoin is down 2.81%. Euro and sterling are nearly flat, the yen is firmer inside USD/JPY, and metals, oil, crypto and the Nasdaq carry the larger moves. Major-currency percentages can be read beside the currency strength meter.

Metals and Oil

Gold at 4090.23 is below S1 at 4116.58, beyond the bottom of the pivot ladder. The daily pivot is 4129.29 and R1 is 4153.76. Daily and four-hour trends both point down. Daily RSI is 43.7 and the five-day change is -0.36%. The day low is 4066.67 and the day high is 4144.42. The 14-day ATR is 73.14 dollars. A climb back through S1 would put the daily pivot ahead of price again, and only a break of that pivot would open R1. If gold stays under S1, the day low remains the session extreme on the downside.

WTI at 99.35 sits between the daily pivot at 97.872 and R1 at 99.659. The day high at 99.452 is still short of R1, and the day low is 97.384. Daily and four-hour trends both point up. RSI is 60.9, the five-day change is 5.63%, and the 14-day ATR is 3.87 dollars. Clearing R1 would take price past the first resistance on this ladder. A retreat under the daily pivot would break that uptrend alignment and leave S1 at 95.656 as the next marked support. How these daily levels are built is set out in the pivot points guide.

Crypto, the Nasdaq and USD/JPY

Bitcoin at 82212.29 is below S1 at 83123.02, so that S1 is overhead resistance from here. The daily pivot is 83983.71 and R1 is 85447.88. The day low is 82133.45 and the day high is 84782.84. Daily and four-hour trends are both mixed, RSI is 59.7, and the five-day change is 0.77%. A recovery through S1 would bring the daily pivot back into view. Holding under S1 leaves the day low as the session extreme.

Ethereum at 2429.46 is between S1 at 2429.01 and the daily pivot at 2476.7, with R1 at 2519.46 overhead. The daily trend is mixed and the four-hour trend is down. RSI is 46 and the five-day change is 0.39%. The day low is 2423.61 and the day high is 2479.28. A slip under S1 would leave Ethereum beyond the bottom of the ladder. A move back through the daily pivot would put the day high, which sits above that pivot, in range before R1.

The Nasdaq 100 at 29313.2 is below S1 at 29602. That S1 is resistance, not a floor under price. The daily pivot is 29764 and R1 is 29988.1. The day low is 29286.2 and the day high is 29796.4. The daily trend is mixed, the four-hour trend is down, RSI is 45.9 and the five-day change is -2.02%. Reclaiming S1 would place the pivot in front of the index again. Staying below S1 keeps the day low as the session extreme.

USD/JPY at 157.297 is down 0.52% and below S1 at 157.833. The daily pivot is 158.101 and R1 is 158.385. Both the daily trend and the four-hour trend point down. RSI is 52.8, the five-day change is -0.63% and the 14-day ATR is 94.1 pips. The day low is 156.805. The day high at 158.23 lies between the pivot and R1. Getting back above S1 would put the daily pivot ahead of price. Remaining under S1 leaves both of those downtrends and the day low on the same side of the ladder.

Sterling, the Euro and the Calendar

GBP/USD at 1.34062 is between the daily pivot at 1.3386 and R1 at 1.34084. S1 is 1.33695. The day high is 1.34091 and the day low is 1.33814. The daily trend is mixed and the four-hour trend is up. RSI is 57.6, the five-day change is 1.63% and the 14-day ATR is 73.1 pips. A break above R1 would open the day high above that resistance. A move back below the daily pivot would invalidate that path and put S1 in view.

EUR/USD at 1.12357 is between the daily pivot at 1.12279 and R1 at 1.12425, with S1 at 1.12157. The day high is 1.12553 and the day low is 1.12213. The daily trend is down and the four-hour trend is up, so the pair has no single lean. RSI is 40.6, the five-day change is 0.72% and the 14-day ATR is 61.6 pips. Pushing through R1 would open the way toward the day high. Falling back under the daily pivot would cancel that path and leave S1 as nearby support.

Today, Bank of England Governor Bailey speaks at 10:50 UTC, a high-impact listing with no previous figure and no estimate. ECB's Panetta speech is at 12:15 UTC and medium impact. US initial jobless claims are at 12:30 UTC, medium impact, previous 199 and estimate 200. Euro-area consumer confidence is at 14:00 UTC, medium impact, previous -16.5 and estimate -17. New York joins at 12:00 UTC, so Panetta, claims and confidence all sit after that join. Timing of that sort is the subject of the economic calendar guide.

Newsflow and the Bottom Line

Morning coverage groups around precious-metal forecasts and forecasts for sterling, the euro and the Canadian dollar. The publishers in that flow are FX Street, FX Empire, InvestingCube and ExchangeRates.

US Treasury yields at the October 21 close showed the 2-year at 4.81%, up 2 basis points, and the 10-year at 5.13%, up 1 basis point. The 3-month yield was 4.25% and the 2s10s curve was 32 basis points. That is prior-close rate context, not a demonstrated cause of these prices.

The dollar does not point one way across pairs, so the bias is neutral. EUR/USD and GBP/USD are slightly higher and still between pivot and R1, while EUR/USD's daily and four-hour trends conflict. USD/JPY is lower and under S1. AUD/USD at 0.70149 is between S1 at 0.69978 and the pivot at 0.70164, daily trend mixed and four-hour trend up, with R1 at 0.7045. USD/CAD at 1.40167 is below S1 at 1.40282, pivot at 1.40545 and R1 at 1.40715, daily trend mixed and four-hour trend down.

The cross-asset split would remain the picture if gold, Bitcoin and the Nasdaq stayed under their S1 levels, if WTI held above its daily pivot, and if EUR/USD and GBP/USD stayed between pivot and R1. It would fade if gold reclaimed S1 at 4116.58, if WTI dropped back through 97.872, or if USD/JPY recovered S1 at 157.833 while euro and sterling left those bands. Bailey at 10:50 UTC comes first today. Claims at 12:30 UTC come after New York joins. The calendar lists those events; it does not rank them.