Week of 10 to 14 August 2026·Published
Week in Brief
EUR/USD spreads tightened from 0.901 to 0.801 pips average this week, with BlackBull Markets holding 0.1 pips every single day. FXTM, IC Markets and FOREX.com were down across all five days, and three index instruments (GER40, NAS100, US500) plus BTC/USD ran on just 3 to 4 brokers, making their averages thin.
Spread Movements by Instrument
EUR/USD
tightened- Week range
- 0.801 to 0.901 pips average across 9 brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips
- Notable
- Average fell from 0.901 to 0.801 pips on 2026-08-14 as XM cut its rate from 2 to 1.1 pips, a 45% drop.
GBP/USD
tightened- Week range
- 0.994 to 1.131 pips average across 8 brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips
- Notable
- Average dropped from 1.131 to 0.994 pips on the final day as XM moved from 2.4 to 1.3 pips, a 46% cut, while dearest shifted to OANDA at 2 pips.
USD/JPY
tightened- Week range
- 0.857 to 1.029 pips average across 7 brokers
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.1 pips
- Notable
- Average fell from 1.029 to 0.857 pips on 2026-08-14 as XM cut from 2.5 to 1.3 pips, a 48% reduction.
XAU/USD
tightened- Week range
- 7.044 to 11.533 USD average, but broker count ranged 3 to 5, so this is a coverage artifact not a clean trend
- Cheapest
- BlackBull Markets at 0.12 USD
- Notable
- Gold coverage stayed thin this week, so the daily range moves with which brokers are quoting.
WTI/USD
stable- Week range
- 1.67 to 1.888 points average across 4 to 5 brokers
- Cheapest
- Swissquote at 0.052 to 0.062 points
- Notable
- Average moved narrowly between 1.67 and 1.888 across the week with Swissquote cheapest every day and easyMarkets dearest at 3 points.
US500
stable- Week range
- 0.675 to 0.7 points average across 4 brokers
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 0.4 points
- Notable
- Average held at 0.675 points on four of five days, with a single tick to 0.7 on 2026-08-13.
GER40
widened- Week range
- 2.343 to 4.477 points average across only 3 brokers, thin coverage
- Cheapest
- IG Group at 1.4 points on the final day
- Notable
- Average nearly doubled on 2026-08-14 as BlackBull Markets jumped from 1.3 to 7.7 points, a 492% increase, flipping it from cheapest to dearest.
NAS100
widened- Week range
- 1.4 to 1.567 points average across only 3 brokers, thin coverage
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 0.8 points
- Notable
- Average oscillated between 1.4 and 1.567 points with ThinkMarkets cheapest and Swissquote dearest every day.
BTC/USD
widened- Week range
- 18.333 to 21.863 price-points average across only 2 to 3 brokers, thin coverage
- Cheapest
- ThinkMarkets at 15 price-points
- Notable
- Average jumped from 18.333 to 21.863 between 2026-08-10 and 2026-08-11 then eased to 20 on 2026-08-14 when coverage dropped to 2 brokers.
Broker Spotlight
BlackBull Markets was the tightest broker overall, topping the cheapest-broker tally with 23 of 45 key instrument-days and holding 0.1 pips in EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY every day this week. BlackBull Markets itself swung to a 7.7 point GER40 spread on 2026-08-14, up 492% from 1.3, making it that day's dearest broker on an instrument it usually leads.
Market Context
- Gold bounced from a weekly low on a softer US Dollar Friday, coinciding with the XAU/USD broker count dropping from 5 to 4 and the average settling at 8.692 USD.
To Watch Next Week
- UoM Consumer Sentiment Index release, watch USD-pairs including EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY for spread reaction.
- Fedspeak shift flagged by ING, watch EUR/USD and USD/JPY given this week's tightening trend.
- GER40 spread behavior after the 492% BlackBull Markets jump on 2026-08-14, confirm whether it persists into next week's thin 3-broker coverage.