How the gold price is set
Ask where the gold price comes from and the honest answer is: from several places at once. London over-the-counter dealing, the twice-daily LBMA auction, COMEX futures in New York and a network of bank market-makers all contribute. Your XAUUSD quote is a broker's blend of those inputs, refreshed many times a second.
London: the wholesale market
Most physical-scale gold dealing happens over-the-counter in London between bullion banks. Twice each business day the LBMA runs an electronic auction that produces the benchmark price many contracts and funds settle against. That benchmark is a reference point, not a live trading feed.
New York: the price discovery engine
COMEX futures are where short-term price discovery is loudest. The order book is deep, hours overlap with US data releases, and fast money reacts there first. When a CPI print lands, the first violent repricing is visible in futures and spot follows within milliseconds.
Your broker's quote
A retail XAUUSD feed is built from bank liquidity providers. The broker takes the best bid and ask it receives, adds its spread, and streams the result. This is why two brokers can show slightly different prices and slightly different candle wicks: the underlying market is the same, the sampling is not.
Our chart uses one institutional feed consistently, which matters less for levels and more for honesty: wicks and volumes are one venue's view, and we treat them that way.
What this means in practice
Do not chase a level to the exact cent: different feeds disagree by small amounts, so zones beat lines. And treat any claim of global gold volume with suspicion; only futures publish true exchange volume.
FAQ
Is there one official gold price?
No. The LBMA auction produces a widely used benchmark twice a day, but live prices form continuously across OTC dealing and futures.
Why do brokers show slightly different XAUUSD prices?
Each broker aggregates quotes from its own liquidity providers and adds its own spread, so feeds differ by small amounts, especially on fast wicks.
Which market leads, London or New York?
Structural, physical-scale positioning centres on London; the fastest intraday price discovery usually happens during New York futures hours, especially around US data.
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