May 2026Monthly reportFX led the asset classes; Gold led the named markets
May entry instructions were weighted towards foreign exchange, with Gold the largest named market and neither exit field the most common received message pattern.
Data window: 1 May 2026–31 May 2026
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Foreign exchange was the largest asset class in May, while Gold was the largest named market shown. Those findings fit together: the foreign-exchange category combines currency pairs, whereas Gold is a single market within metals. May’s received entry instructions also most often carried neither recognised stop-loss nor take-profit fields, a description of message content rather than a record of what happened after receipt.
This report covers the complete May source-calendar month. There is no verified complete-April comparison here, so the findings describe May’s composition without labelling it growth, a decline or a continuing trend. An entry instruction is a request to enter a market, recorded when the PineConnector bridge receives it. The measures below describe those messages; receipt does not establish a completed trade.
FX led the broad categories; Gold led the named markets
FX, short for foreign exchange, covers currency pairs such as EURUSD, the euro against the US dollar. Together, FX markets accounted for 47.5% of May’s entry instructions. That made FX the largest asset class, ahead of metals at 23.9% and equity indices at 19.8%.
An equity index tracks a basket of shares. In this report, the indices category groups entry instructions associated with those markets, including the Nasdaq 100. Crypto represented 7.9% of entries, and the remaining Other category represented 0.9%. These categories describe how all May entries were divided across market types.
share of entry instructions (%)
Each month has its own entry-instruction total. A larger share does not by itself mean more activity.
Source: PineConnector Pulse, approved historical instruction aggregates. Instruction-weighted. Download data (CSV): Figure 1
View figure data
| Measure | Period or release date | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign exchange | May | 47.5% |
| Metals | May | 23.9% |
| Equity indices | May | 19.8% |
| Crypto | May | 7.9% |
| Other | May | 0.9% |
The chart’s main finding is the size of FX relative to the other classes. But a class chart cannot tell the whole market story. Gold alone accounted for 23.4% of all May entry instructions, close to the entire metals share. Gold therefore explains most of the metals bar, whereas the FX bar combines distinct currency markets.
Among the named markets shown, EURUSD represented 8.7% of total entry activity. The Nasdaq 100 represented 8.1%, Bitcoin 7.6%, USDJPY 7.3% and GBPUSD 6.5%. USDJPY is the US dollar against the Japanese yen; GBPUSD is the British pound against the US dollar.
share of entry instructions (%)
Selected named markets, all measured against May entry instructions. Gold is included in metals; the displayed markets are not a separate whole.
Source: PineConnector Pulse, approved historical instruction aggregates. Instruction-weighted. Download data (CSV): Figure 2
View figure data
| Measure | Period or release date | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | May | 23.4% |
| EUR/USD | May | 8.7% |
| Nasdaq 100 | May | 8.1% |
| Bitcoin | May | 7.6% |
| USD/JPY | May | 7.3% |
| GBP/USD | May | 6.5% |
Gold leads the named-market comparison, while the remaining displayed markets sit within larger class totals. Each named-market figure uses the same denominator: all entry instructions in May. Bitcoin’s share is therefore its share of the full entry total, not its share of crypto entries. The same distinction applies to EURUSD within FX and Gold within metals. Reading the denominator correctly makes the figures comparable without confusing a market’s importance within its class with its weight across all entries.
There is also an overlap to watch. Gold is already included in metals, and EURUSD is already included in FX. Adding a named market to its parent class would count that activity twice. The class view and the market view are complementary ways of describing the same month, rather than separate pools of activity.
FX and metals together accounted for 71.4% of May entries. That combined figure gives a useful overview, while the named markets reveal a different structure beneath it: a large combined currency category alongside a metals category whose entry share was mostly Gold.
Entry share describes a different whole
Entry instructions represented 52.0% of all tracked instructions received in May. The rest belonged to the management-and-other category. That category includes non-entry messages, such as requests to close, modify or cancel, rather than requests to make an entry.
This is a different question from the market breakdown. The entry share asks how the full instruction stream divided between entry messages and other messages. The FX share asks how the entry messages alone divided across asset classes. Both figures are percentages, but their denominators differ.
For a reader, this is a useful check whenever two percentages appear side by side: percentage of what? A share of all instructions cannot be read interchangeably with a share of entries. Nor does an entry share describe the amount of activity relative to another month. It is possible to describe May’s composition precisely while leaving the month-to-month change unanswered.
That distinction sets the boundary of the May finding. The evidence supports saying FX had the largest class share and Gold the largest named-market share. It does not establish that either had increased since April. A complete month provides a clear observation; a change claim also requires an appropriate earlier comparison.
Neither exit field was the most common message pattern
Stop-loss (SL) and take-profit (TP) fields are values included in an entry message to specify exit parameters. The report groups messages by whether these fields were recognised when received: both fields, SL only, TP only, or neither.
The largest group in May was neither, at 58.9% of entry instructions. SL only accounted for 23.6%, both fields for 14.7%, and TP only for 2.8%.
share of entry instructions (%)
SL means stop-loss; TP means take-profit. Recognition measures message content, not broker acceptance or protection. Independently rounded shares may not sum exactly to 100%.
Source: PineConnector Pulse, approved historical instruction aggregates. Instruction-weighted. Download data (CSV): Figure 3
View figure data
| Measure | Period or release date | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Both SL and TP | May | 14.7% |
| SL only | May | 23.6% |
| TP only | May | 2.8% |
| Neither field | May | 58.9% |
The chart describes the entry message at receipt. A message in the neither group had no recognised SL or TP field in that message. It does not tell us what was configured elsewhere or sent later. Exit settings can exist in the receiving software, later instructions or strategy logic, none of which is established by this field-presence measure.
The same boundary applies to messages carrying both fields. Recognition records that the fields were present; it does not validate their values or confirm what the broker accepted. The categories should therefore be read as message formats, without turning them into a rating of how a trading process was managed.
The distinction between SL only and both is also useful. An SL-only message is not part of the both-fields group, even though each carries an SL field. Keeping the categories separate shows which combinations appeared in the incoming record. It avoids collapsing materially different message patterns into a single label.
Weekend activity was lower on a daily-rate basis
May’s average weekend-day entry activity was 12.3% of average weekday entry activity. This compares daily rates: the average weekend day with the average weekday. It is not the percentage of the month’s entries that arrived over weekends.
That denominator matters because a monthly total and a typical-day comparison answer different questions. The former is affected by how many days of each kind occur in the month. The latter first averages activity within each day type. Here, the result shows a lower received-entry rate on weekend days under the source calendar.
The source clock’s time zone is unconfirmed. Weekend labels therefore refer to that clock, and should not silently be translated into Singapore time or another local calendar. The daily-rate comparison also provides no basis for identifying favourable trading hours. Its use is narrower: it describes the rhythm of received instructions alongside May’s market mix and message content.
The wider currency market had a different story
The figures above describe the mix of requests received by PineConnector. A separate public record describes currency prices. Between the Federal Reserve’s 30 April and 29 May reference observations, its broad US dollar index rose 0.17%. EUR/USD fell 0.43%, while USD/JPY rose 1.64%. The broad basket moved only modestly, while the two individual pairs moved by different amounts. Federal Reserve: broad dollar index, euro, yen.
reference-rate change (%)
Fed reference observations. Higher EUR/USD means a stronger euro; higher USD/JPY means a stronger dollar against the yen. Changes exclude costs and are not broker execution returns.
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: H.10 nominal broad dollar index, daily; Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: H.10 euro daily reference rate; Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System: H.10 Japanese yen daily reference rate Download data (CSV): Figure 4
View figure data
| Measure | Period or release date | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Broad US dollar index | 2026-04-30 to 2026-05-29 | +0.17% |
| EUR/USD | 2026-04-30 to 2026-05-29 | −0.43% |
| USD/JPY | 2026-04-30 to 2026-05-29 | +1.64% |
The quote direction matters. EUR/USD is dollars per euro: a fall means the euro bought fewer dollars. USD/JPY is yen per dollar: a rise means the dollar bought more yen. These are reference-rate changes, not investment returns after dealing costs, financing or leverage. A broad dollar index combines multiple currencies, so it need not move as much as an individual pair.
The inflation data also has two dates. May’s US Consumer Price Index, published on 10 June, recorded a 0.5% monthly rise after seasonal adjustment. The measure excluding food and energy rose 0.2%. That later release describes May’s price conditions; it was not information available throughout May. BLS: May consumer prices, released 10 June.
These external records make the period easier to place, but they do not explain the instruction mix. A currency’s price, a market’s share of incoming requests and the contents of those messages answer separate questions. May’s report keeps them separate so that one cannot be mistaken for evidence of another.
Reader questions
How can FX and Gold both lead? FX is a class containing currency pairs. Gold is a named market within metals. Each leads at a different level of the breakdown.
Does the neither-fields group mean no exit settings existed? It means neither recognised field appeared in the received entry message. Settings elsewhere and later messages are outside that observation.
What should I check before comparing May with another report? Match the coverage window, the instruction type and the denominator first. A class share, an entry share and a weekend daily rate each describe a different relationship. A valid comparison preserves that relationship across both periods.