Week of 24 to 28 August 2026·Published
Week in Brief
EUR/USD spreads tightened from 0.871 pips Monday to 0.742 pips by Friday, an 15% compression across the week. Gold and GBP/USD also tightened, while WTI/USD and BTC/USD widened, and BTC coverage dropped to a single broker on 26 August. IC Markets and FOREX.com were down every day this week, and AvaTrade joined them on 27 August.
Spread Movements by Instrument
EUR/USD
tightened- Week range
- 0.742 to 0.871 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- FXTM at 0.01 pips (26 to 28 August), BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips (24 to 25 August)
- Notable
- Average spread dropped from 0.871 on 24 August to 0.742 by 27 August and held there through Friday, while XM stayed dearest at 2 pips all week.
GBP/USD
tightened- Week range
- 0.926 to 1.096 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- FXTM at 0.01 pips (26 to 28 August), BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips (24 to 25 August)
- Notable
- Average fell from 1.096 on Monday to 0.926 by Thursday and stayed there, tracking the same broker handoff seen in EUR/USD.
USD/JPY
tightened- Week range
- 0.864 to 0.986 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- FXTM at 0.01 pips (26 to 28 August), BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips (24 to 25 August)
- Notable
- Average compressed from 0.986 to 0.864 pips midweek and held, coinciding with the yen intervention headline on Friday.
XAU/USD
tightened- Week range
- 0.268 to 0.42 USD average across brokers, on 4 to 6 brokers per day
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.12 USD all week
- Notable
- Average fell from 0.42 to 0.268 USD as broker coverage also shrank from 6 to 4, so part of the tightening is fewer, cheaper quotes rather than a market-wide move. A Saxo Bank gold quote near 34 USD is a known unit or parse error and is excluded here.
WTI/USD
widened- Week range
- 1.67 to 1.888 points average across brokers, on 4 to 5 brokers per day
- Cheapest
- Swissquote at 0.052 to 0.062 points
- Notable
- Average bounced between 1.692 and 1.888 with no clean trend, ending the week at 1.841, up from 1.692 on Monday.
US500
widened- Week range
- 0.675 to 0.7 points average, only 4 brokers reporting
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 0.4 points all week
- Notable
- Average rose slightly from 0.675 to 0.7 points on Tuesday and stayed flat the rest of the week, on thin 4-broker coverage.
GER40
stable- Week range
- 3.743 to 4.477 points average, only 3 brokers reporting
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 1.4 points all week
- Notable
- Average oscillated between 3.743 and 4.477 with no clear direction, on thin 3-broker coverage, and BlackBull Markets as dearest ranged widely from 5.5 to 7.7 points.
NAS100
tightened- Week range
- 1.4 to 1.833 points average, only 3 brokers reporting
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 0.8 points all week
- Notable
- Average fell from 1.833 to 1.4 by Tuesday and held. BlackBull Markets cut its spread 20% and Swissquote cut 31%, both narrowing from Monday levels.
BTC/USD
widened- Week range
- 15 to 31.5 average, on 1 to 3 brokers per day
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 15 to 18 all week
- Notable
- Coverage dropped to a single broker on 26 August, making that day's 15 average a coverage artifact, not a real tightening. easyMarkets widened 80% from 25 to 45 across the week.
Broker Spotlight
BlackBull Markets and FXTM traded off as cheapest across EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY this week, with FXTM undercutting at 0.01 pips from 26 August onward after BlackBull Markets held 0.1 pips earlier in the week. XM was the consistent outlier, quoting 2 to 2.5 pips on every major pair all five days, roughly 20 to 250 times the cheapest quote depending on the pair and day.
Market Context
- US Dollar Index rallied Friday 28 August as Fed's Warsh put a September rate hike back on the table, coinciding with EUR/USD and GBP/USD spreads holding at their tightest levels of the week.
- Gold tumbled Friday 28 August as the Warsh-driven dollar rally took hold, coinciding with XAU/USD's average spread sitting at its weekly low of 0.268 USD, though this also reflects reduced broker coverage.
- The Japanese Yen gave up intervention gains Friday 28 August, coinciding with USD/JPY spreads holding at 0.864 pips, their tightest of the week.
- Dow Jones round-tripped Friday 28 August after the Fed signaled no near-term action, a day when US30 does not appear in the key instrument stats provided.
To Watch Next Week
- BoE policy meeting following Bailey's muted-inflation comments on 28 August, watch GBP/USD spreads for any widening around the announcement.
- Any Fed follow-through on the September rate hike signal from Warsh's 28 August remarks, watch EUR/USD and USD/JPY for volatility-driven spread widening.
- BTC/USD broker coverage, which fell to a single reporting broker on 26 August this week, watch whether coverage stabilizes at 3 brokers or stays thin.
- IC Markets and FOREX.com outage status, down every day this week, watch for restoration or further broker dropouts.