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Trend FollowingXAUUSD · M507:00–12:00 UTCv1.2.0TradeTrove-verified

XAUUSD London Morning Pullback

Gold · London session · EMA trend-following

Last backtested 2026-04-17·by TradeTrove·Jump to download ↓
Win rate
46.8%
Profit factor
1.55
Net profit
18.7%
Max drawdown
8.1%

Overview

Trades Gold trend continuations during the London morning (07:00–12:00 UTC) — the session with Gold's cleanest directional moves. Enters on pullbacks to a fast EMA when the slow EMA confirms the prevailing trend. Uses ATR-sized stops and a 2:1 reward/risk. Auto-flattens before 21:00 UTC rollover. Lower win rate but bigger R-multiples — pair with the NAS100 Mean Reversion for equity curve smoothing.

Backtest report

Every number below comes from the test-period slice only. No in-sample optimization numbers are published.

Period
2023-06-01 → 2026-04-01
Bars tested
201,960
Train / test split
70% / 30% (out-of-sample metrics)
Trades
156
Avg trades / day
0.60
Sharpe ratio
1.12
Recovery factor
2.30
Best month
+6.20%
Worst month
-4.30%

Risk & reward calculator

Dial your account size, firm, and per-trade risk to see what this strategy actually looks like on your capital. Pulls the target and drawdown values straight from each firm's encoded rulebook.

High Stakes Challenge · Stage 1 · target 8% · daily DD 5% · overall 10%

0.10%strategy default: 0.50%2.00%
$ risk per trade
$500
0.50% of account
$ to target
$8,000
8% target
Losers to daily breach
10
5% daily DD = $5,000
Losers to overall breach
20
10% overall DD = $10,000
Trades to target
55
at 47% WR, PF 1.55
Calendar days to target
92
at 0.6 trades/day
Expected $/trade
+$146
positive — grind works
R:R ratio (implied)
1.76
avg win ÷ avg loss

These are expected-value projectionsfrom the walk-forward backtest — not guarantees. Real P&L varies with spread, slippage, volatility regimes, and broker execution. Use them to size position risk, not as a yield promise.

Firm compatibility

Every encoded rulebook run against this strategy. Click through to a firm for full rule detail.

The5ersPass

Clean pass. Gold is unrestricted on The5ers and session fits within trading hours.

FTMOPass

Clean pass. Closes before rollover, avoids weekend holds, stays under 5% daily DD.

FundingPipsPass

Clean pass on 1-step.

FundedNextWarnmin-trading-days

0.6 trades/day averages ~3 trading days per calendar week — cutting it close for FundedNext's 5-min-trading-days rule. Give yourself a full 14 days of evaluation window.

Alpha CapitalWarnnews-proximity

Alpha Capital flags trades within 2 min of high-impact news. Gold reacts to US CPI, FOMC, NFP — these occur inside the London session. Add a news-filter overlay before going live.

Download this bot

Parameters bake into the generated .cs file. Drop into cAlgo, compile, attach.

Download xau_london_pullback_bot.cs

How to install

Start-to-finish setup in cTrader. Takes about 3 minutes the first time; under a minute once you've done it before. No coding required.

  1. Step 1Download the bot file

    Use the download panel above. You'll get a file named xau_london_pullback_bot.cs with your parameters baked in.

    xau_london_pullback_bot.csReady

  2. Step 2Open cTrader → Automate

    In the cTrader desktop app, click the Automate tab in the top ribbon. The left panel shows your cBots and Indicators. Right-click an empty area in the cBots list → New → cBot.

    TradeAutomate ←AnalyzeCommunity
    cBots▸Right-click → New → cBot

  3. Step 3Paste the code

    Name your new cBot (any name works — e.g. xau_london_pullback). cTrader opens the code editor with a blank template. Select all (⌘A / Ctrl+A) and replace with the contents of xau_london_pullback_bot.cs.

    1usingcAlgo.API;
    2usingcAlgo.API.Indicators;
    3// ... (your bot)

  4. Step 4Build (F9)

    Press F9 or click the Build button. The output panel at the bottom should show Build succeeded. If you see red errors, the most common cause is an older cTrader version — update to the latest stable release and try again.

    ✓ Build succeeded.0 errors · 0 warnings · 1.2s

  5. Step 5Attach to a chart & configure

    Open a chart for XAUUSD on the M5 timeframe. In the Automate panel, expand your new cBot → Add new instance. A settings dialog opens — the parameters match the ones you configured on the download page. Leave them as-is or fine-tune.

    SymbolXAUUSD
    TimeframeM5
    Session (UTC)07:00–12:00
    Risk per trade0.50%

  6. Step 6Start

    Click Start on the new instance. The status dot turns green. The bot now monitors the chart and will act on the next qualifying signal.

    Instance runningXAUUSD · M5
Troubleshooting
Build fails with “The name ‘X’ could not be found”
Update cTrader to the latest stable. Older versions miss API methods added in 2023+.
Bot runs but never enters a trade
Check the chart timeframe matches (M5) and that the current time is within the strategy's session window (07:00–12:00 UTC).
Bot enters trades but gets rejected by broker
Your prop-firm demo may use a different symbol name (e.g. `GER40` vs `DE40`). Edit the Symbol parameter on the bot instance to match exactly.
Lot size comes out at 0
Risk %-based sizing needs a non-trivial stop distance. If ATR is near 0 at startup, wait a few bars for the indicator to warm up.

First time running a cBot on a prop-firm account? Always paper-test on a demo account first. Most firms offer free demo environments — use them to confirm the bot behaves the same on their symbol feed before committing an evaluation fee.

Known risks

  • Gold is news-sensitive — FOMC, CPI, NFP create violent moves that can blow through stops. Flat during red-folder news.
  • Backtest period includes COVID-era volatility and 2024 safe-haven flows. Sustained Gold bear markets (rare) will produce drawdown.
  • Commissions modeled at $30/million — some brokers charge more on CFDs.
  • Broker-side Gold slippage during London fix (15:00 UTC for a 4-year window) can be material. Session ends at 12:00 to avoid this.

Notes

This is the highest-R strategy in the library but the lowest WR. Expect stretches of losses — manage your psychology accordingly. The rollover-close is important: several firms (Alpha Capital, FundedNext) have explicit rules against rollover holds on some assets, and the nightly swap on Gold is material enough to erode edge.