How to backtest XAUUSD on the 30-minute chart

A London or New York session produces only a handful of 30-minute candles. That makes the open, expansion, pullback, and close easier to read, but it also means a strict setup may produce no trade on many days.

A 30-minute close can travel far beyond the ideal entry. Decide whether the strategy enters at the close, waits for a retracement, or uses a lower timeframe only after the 30m condition is complete.

• Never count a lower-timeframe signal before the 30m candle closes.
• Record missed trades separately from invalid trades.
• Use 4h or daily levels for target room.
• Keep overnight holds and intraday exits in separate samples.

A selective strategy may show a healthy result while producing very few trades. Track signals per week, time spent in market, and stretches with no setup alongside P&L. The workflow has to be usable, not merely profitable on paper.

Because each candle carries more information, review where the trade sits inside the day: before expansion, after an exhausted move, or during a range. That context often explains more than the name of the candle pattern itself.