It depends on your risk appetite. EUR/USD is good for beginners because its price does not move too agressively which can cause huge losses in the blink of an eye.
XAU/USD is better for experienced traders because they can make more profit from the fast peice movement while still managing risk effectively.
Both EUR/USD and XAU/USD are affected by news releases like NFP, CPI etc. but XAU/USD (aka Gold) is the more dangerous of the two so in my view, beginners should stick to EUR/USD.