Week of 29 June to 3 July 2026·Published
Week in Brief
A softer than expected US jobs report on Friday reset Federal Reserve rate expectations, tightening EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY spreads among consistently-reporting brokers through the week. Gold pushed toward $4,200 but broker spreads on XAU/USD stayed completely flat all five days. BlackBull Markets held the tightest or joint-tightest spread on six of the nine instruments tracked this week.
Spread Movements by Instrument
EUR/USD
Tightened- Week range
- 0.62 to 0.79 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets and Pepperstone tied at 0.1 pips (all five days)
- Notable
- AvaTrade swung from 1.14 pips Monday to 0.25 pips Tuesday, the largest single-broker move of the week on this pair.
GBP/USD
Tightened- Week range
- 0.46 to 0.90 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips (all five days)
- Notable
- Oanda and XM did not report Friday, which accounts for part of the week's average decline. Brokers reporting all five days held within a narrow band.
XAU/USD
Stable- Week range
- 8.73 USD average across brokers (unchanged all week)
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.12 USD (all five days)
- Notable
- Gold traded up toward $4,200 this week, but spreads at all four reporting brokers did not move a single day.
WTI/USD
Stable among consistently-reporting brokers- Week range
- 0.052 to 0.114 pts among brokers reporting all five days
- Cheapest
- EasyMarkets World at 0.03 pts (Monday to Thursday; did not report Friday)
- Notable
- IG World, EasyMarkets World and AvaTrade all dropped out of Friday's scan, so the raw five-day average is not comparable to prior days.
US500
Widened slightly- Week range
- 0.4 to 1.35 pts across brokers
- Cheapest
- IG World at 0.4 pts (all five days)
- Notable
- Swissquote widened from 1.1 to 1.35 pts on Friday, a 22.7% move, the largest single-broker change on this instrument this week.
GER40
Stable- Week range
- 1.4 to 4.33 pts (two brokers reporting)
- Cheapest
- IG World at 1.4 pts (all five days)
- Notable
- Coverage remains limited to two brokers all week.
NAS100
Stable at BlackBull Markets; Swissquote fluctuated- Week range
- 1.0 to 3.2 pts (two brokers reporting)
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 1.0 pts (all five days)
- Notable
- Swissquote ran 3.2, 2.7, 2.2, 3.2, 3.2 pts Monday to Friday.
BTC/USD
Stable, slight widening at AvaTrade- Week range
- 23.62 to 24.67 USD among brokers reporting all five days
- Cheapest
- Swissquote at 1.01 USD (Monday to Thursday; did not report Friday)
- Notable
- EasyMarkets World's feed showed an unexplained jump from 2,500 USD to 25 USD between Tuesday and Wednesday, excluded from the range above pending a data quality check.
USD/JPY
Tightened- Week range
- 0.68 to 0.83 pips average across brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips (four of five days)
- Notable
- USD/JPY reversed sharply from 162.60 to 160.60 this week as Yen strength returned. Average spread tightened roughly 10% over the same period.
Broker Spotlight
BlackBull Markets held the tightest or joint-tightest spread on EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, XAU/USD, WTI/USD and NAS100, all five days this week. Oanda was the most expensive broker on every pair it reported (EUR/USD at 1.4 pips, GBP/USD at 2.0 pips, USD/JPY at 1.4 pips) and did not report GBP/USD on Friday.
Market Context
- Soft US jobs data released Friday reset Fed rate-hike expectations lower. EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY spreads tightened through the week among consistently-reporting brokers.
- USD/JPY reversed from 162.60 to 160.60 this week on renewed Yen strength. USD/JPY average spread tightened roughly 10% over the same period.
- Gold rallied toward $4,200 on fading Fed hike bets. XAU/USD spreads at all four core brokers stayed completely flat.
- GBP held firm near 1.3380, on track for its strongest week in three months. GBP/USD spreads tightened among brokers that reported the full week.
To Watch Next Week
- Week of 6 July — Federal Reserve commentary following the softer NFP print — instruments to watch: EUR/USD, US500, XAU/USD
- Week of 6 July — Global manufacturing PMI releases — instruments to watch: EUR/USD, GER40, US500
- Week of 6 July — ECB commentary following the Euro's rally toward 1.16 — instruments to watch: EUR/USD