How to Read Gold Buy and Sell Prices: Spread and Starting P/L
Author: 分析师 卢明宇
Gold quotes usually show a buy price and a sell price. A long opens at the ask and closes at the bid; a short opens at the bid and closes at the ask. The difference is the spread. This guide uses hypothetical quotes to show where the opening floating result starts.
Read the two quote sides
Buy or Ask generally means the market sells to you; Sell or Bid means the market buys from you. Labels vary, so read the current ticket and the STP quotation information and trading rules.
A chart may show a midpoint or one side while an order follows the execution side. That is why a stop can be reached on the other quote even when the line you watch has not touched it. See the bid-chart stop example.
Calculate a hypothetical spread
Assume Ask 2350.20 and Bid 2350.00 US dollars per ounce. The spread is 0.20 US dollars per ounce. With one ounce as a teaching quantity, a long opened at Ask and closed at Bid without a price change has 0.20 US dollars of quote difference to cover.
For 10 ounces the same difference is 0.20 × 10 = 2 US dollars before commissions, overnight charges, slippage or other costs. Contract units and minimum quantities differ, so this ounce example does not transfer directly to futures or account products.
Let price movement cover the spread
If a long opens at 2350.20 and the Bid later reaches 2350.50, the quote-based gross change is 0.30 US dollars per ounce. After the 0.20 spread effect, about 0.10 remains before other costs. For a short, calculate from Bid entry and Ask exit.
Record direction, entry and exit prices, quantity, spread, commission and overnight charges. The fees and charges page is a public reference; the account and product page controls the applicable figures.
Four quote checks
Confirm Bid, Ask or midpoint, currency and weight unit. Check whether the spread is fixed, floating or wider at certain times. Confirm contract unit and minimum quantity. Around news, session changes or thin liquidity, recheck update time, slippage and execution status.
Do not treat buy, sell and last price as interchangeable. For contract-value comparisons, see the gold-futures lot calculation and list the quotation unit, trading unit and minimum fluctuation separately.
The figures 2350.20, 2350.00, 0.20 US dollars, one ounce and 10 ounces are hypothetical, not current quotes. Spreads, fees, overnight charges, quotation methods and execution conditions vary. Margin trading can magnify account movements, so size the position for a loss you can bear. See the account-risk guide.
Sources: WWGJS STP quotation information, trading rules and fees and charges. Read the current product rules before trading.