Replaying EURUSD and XAUUSD: Where to Find Their Order Flow
You can replay spot EURUSD and spot gold (XAUUSD) in MarketByOrder and practice trading them like any other instrument: candles, price indicators, drawings and simulated orders all work. What spot does not have is order flow. There is no record of who traded, how much, or which side was aggressive, and no order book behind the best bid and ask. When you want to read order flow on the euro or on gold, add the CME futures: 6E for the euro and GC for gold.
Why spot forex has no order flow
Spot forex trades over the counter. Banks quote each other, electronic venues match orders, and brokers fill their own clients, each with its own prices and its own book. No exchange sees all of it, so no complete record of trades or resting orders exists anywhere.
A spot chart shows one provider's quotes: the bid and ask it was showing at each moment. The volume many forex platforms display is a count of how often those quotes changed, or the size the provider was willing to quote. It is not the amount that changed hands, and it does not say who was buying or selling.
The futures have it
6E and GC trade on CME with one order book. Every order rests in that book, and every trade prints with its size and with which side crossed the spread. That is what a footprint chart, the DOM ladder, Big Trades, delta and volume profiles are built on. On October 8, 2026, 181,036 contracts traded in the front 6E contract and 136,145 in the front GC contract, each one with its price, size and side.
Which future to use
| Spot | Future | Micro | One tick |
|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD | 6E (125,000 euros) | M6E (12,500 euros) | 0.00005 ($6.25) on 6E, 0.0001 ($1.25) on M6E |
| XAUUSD | GC (100 ounces) | MGC (10 ounces) | 0.10 ($10) on GC, 0.10 ($1) on MGC |
In MarketByOrder, EURUSD and XAUUSD replay as quotes: candles from the best bid, and a DOM ladder with only the best bid and ask. Add Big Trades, Volume or delta to them and a notice tells you there is nothing to show. Keep the spot chart and put 6E or GC in a second pane: both play on the same replay clock, so the flow on the future lines up with the spot chart second by second.
The future's price is not the spot price
A future is priced for delivery at expiry, so it includes the cost of holding the position until then. On October 8, 2026, GC traded between $24.16 and $24.94 above the XAUUSD bid all day, and 6E sat about 0.0030 above EURUSD. The gap barely moves within a session, so a level on one chart maps onto the other by adding or subtracting it. It shrinks as the contract nears expiry and jumps when the front month rolls, so measure it on the day you trade.