Forex & CFD Spreads

Learn how Forex & CFD spreads impact your trading costs and take advantage of our competitive pricing on popular currency pairs and other instruments.

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What is spread in Forex trading?

Trade FX with competitive spreads

Getting access to trading in the forex market incurs some costs. One of these costs is the bid/ask spread, which is the difference between the ask and bid prices. A large spread increases the cost of trading a specific financial instrument, such as a currency pair. In contrast, a low spread reduces trading costs.

A trader should calculate the impact of spreads on their trading costs and adjust their plans accordingly. FP Markets offers tight spreads on a wide array of popular financial instruments, starting as low as 0.0 pips.

Click on a product to view our typical spreads

Forex

Metals

Indices

Commodities

Digital Currencies

How do spreads affect your trades?

Traders should closely monitor changes in spreads for their preferred financial instruments. Specific groups of traders, such as scalpers and day traders, base their decisions on even the most minor spread changes.

High Spreads

Low liquidity or periods of increased market volatility can cause the difference between bid and ask prices to rise to higher-than-usual levels. A prime example of financial instruments with high spreads due to low liquidity are minor and exotic currency pairs, which are not widely traded in markets.

Low Spreads

Low market volatility or periods of high liquidity can reduce the difference between bid and ask prices, resulting in low spreads. Major currency pairs, such as the EUR/USD or GBP/USD, tend to have low spreads as they are widely traded in forex markets around the world.

Forex Spread fundamentals

Forex spreads may sometimes confuse beginner traders. The difference between bid and ask prices, measured in ‘pips’ or ‘points’, can change depending on market conditions. Since spread costs represent the primary cost of every trade, beginners or less experienced traders should learn the fundamentals of forex trading to build effective strategies. Read our Beginner’s Guide to Forex Trading, prepared by experienced traders, and enhance your trading knowledge today.

Bid vs Ask Price

The bid price is the ‘quote price’ a trader or investor can sell at (located on the left side of the quotation), and the ask price is the quote price a trader/investor can buy at (located on the right side of the quotation). We can also consider it from a liquidity provider’s point of view: the bid price represents willing buyers standing ready to receive sell orders (from traders), and the ask price reflects willing sellers that are prepared to sell to buyers (buy orders from traders).

How to calculate Forex Spreads: an example

In forex trading, every currency pair has two prices: the bid and the ask.

For example, if the EUR/USD currency pair is quoted at US$1.1351 / US$1.1352, here’s what it means:

US$1.1351 is the bid price – the price you can sell 1 euro for.

US$1.1352 is the ask price – the price you can buy 1 euro at.

The euro (EUR) is the base currency, and the US dollar (USD) is the quote currency (or term currency).

The spread is the difference between the bid and ask prices.

In this example:

A pip stands for ‘percentage in point’ and is usually the smallest whole price movement a currency pair can make. For most currency pairs, 1 pip = 0.0001 (the fourth decimal place).

The current bid and ask prices are the price levels that traders can engage (trade) with the market immediately or ‘on the spot’. The ask price will always usually be slightly higher than the underlying market price, whereas the bid price is slightly below the underlying market price.

Which factors can affect Spreads?

Spreads can be influenced by a variety of factors. High market volatility can impact spreads, making them wider as brokers seek to reduce their risk during times of uncertainty; low liquidity in the market can also weigh on spreads, making trades more expensive.

Spreads can affect trading profitability as they may widen significantly during volatile market conditions, causing slippage (trades get executed at a price different from the requested fill price). Another factor that should be taken into consideration is market conditions in relation to geopolitical developments. Important news updates can play a role in shaping market momentum with spreads following suit.

Fixed and Variable Spreads

Traders may encounter two types of spreads when executing their trades: fixed and variable.

Fixed spreads remain the same, no matter the market conditions. Fixed spreads allow traders to calculate their trading costs without worrying about any spread changes. On the contrary, variable (or floating) spreads keep changing based on the supply and demand of financial instruments and the overall market volatility. Variable spreads may be lower than fixed spreads during high-liquidity trading sessions, but their volatile nature should be taken into consideration when developing trading plans.

Forex Spreads and Pip Calculation example

When trading forex, understanding spreads and pip value is essential for managing costs and calculating potential profits. The spread is the small difference between the bid and ask prices. A pip measures the smallest price movement in a currency pair, and its value depends on your trade size.

When your trading account is in the same currency as the base currency (the first currency in the pair), figuring out the pip value is easy.

Forex Spreads and Pip Calculation example

As an example, if the bid/ask rate for the GBP/USD is US$1.2272/US$1.2273, a trader can enter long the pound at the ask price ofUS $1.2273 and short from the bid price of US$1.2272. And the difference between these two prices is the bid/ask spread: the Forex spread, which, in this case, would be 1 pip, or 0.0001. As a reminder, this is found by taking the difference between the ask rate and bid rate.

Calculating the total pip value will differ depending on the currency pair, the account currency denomination and the units traded. Let’s assume the account is traded in USD, and the currency pair is EUR/USD (the account currency is the same as the quote currency).

Forex Spreads and Pip Calculation example

If you are trading a 10,000-unit trade for the EUR/USD (1 Mini-Lot), the pip value, or ‘initial spread cost’, would be 1 USD = (0.0001 * 10,000 units).

If you are trading a Standard Lot (100,000 units of the base currency), your pip value or ‘initial spread cost’, would be 10 USD = (0.0001 * 100,000 units).

Forex Spreads and Pip Calculation example

However, trading an account currency that matches the base currency involves dividing the pip value (usually 0.0001 with most currency pairs) by the currency pair’s exchange rate, then multiplying the resulting value by the units traded.

For example, assume an account traded in GBP, and you’re trading GBP/USD. We would divide 0.0001 by the GBP/USD exchange rate: US$1.2409 and multiply the resulting value by 100,000 units (trading 1 Standard Lot) to equal £8.0 (rounded). So, £8.06 GBP is your pip value.

Forex Spreads and Pip Calculation example

When your account currency is different from the base currency (the first currency in the pair you’re trading), you need an extra step.

Find the exchange rate between your account currency and the quote currency (second currency in the pair).

Divide 0.0001 by that exchange rate.

Multiply by the number of units you are trading.

For example:

Your account is in GBP.

You are trading USD/CHF.

You need the GBP/CHF exchange rate, which is CHF1.1149.

Step-by-step:

0.0001 ÷ 1.1149 = 0.00008971

0.00008971 × 100,000 = £8.97

So, each pip move is worth about £8.97.

Industry-leading Forex Spreads

FP Markets provides an array of fixed and variable spreads for fast trade execution. Partnering with market-leading financial institutions, FP Markets traders benefit from deep liquidity pools and real-time price quotes for various popular financial instruments. Open a Standard or a Raw trading account and build your trading plan, taking advantage of spreads as low as 0.0 pips.

Forex Trading Accounts

Spreads

from 1.0 pips

Spreads

from 0.0 pips

Commission

Zero

Commission

US$3.00

Minimum deposit

US$100 or equivalent

Minimum deposit

US$100 or equivalent

Maximum leverage

1:500

Maximum leverage

1:500

MetaTrader Standard & Raw commission charges

Instrument	Standard Account	Raw Account
Instrument	Standard Account	Account CCY	Per Side	Round Trip
Forex & Metals	Zero (Built into the spread)	AUD/CAD/SGD	$3.5	$7
		USD	$3	$6
		EUR	€2.75	€5.5
		GBP	£2.25	£4.5
		HKD	$20	$40
		JPY	¥250	¥500
Commodities	Zero (Built into the spread)	Zero (Built into the spread)
Indices	Zero (Built into the spread)	Zero (Built into the spread)
Shares	Zero (Built into the spread)	Zero (Built into the spread)
Cryptocurrencies	Zero (Built into the spread)	Zero (Built into the spread)

Trade execution matters

Achieving your financial goals requires your broker’s full support. FP Markets’ traders get access to some of the best trading platforms, real time price charts, technical indicators, latest market insights, and fast order execution speeds in an all-in-one package that makes their trading experience unique.

Choose one of the MT4, MT5 or cTrader platforms to experience trading with tight spreads and transparent commissions.

Monitoring live Forex Spreads on the FP Markets MT4 / MT5 platforms

Once the trading platform is active, press Ctrl+M to activate the Market Watch window.

For MT4, right-click anywhere on your Market Watch window and select ‘Spread’ to view each instrument’s spread.

For MT5, right-click anywhere on your Market Watch window and select ‘Columns’, allowing you to check the option ‘Spread’ to view the spreads for each instrument.

Chart Bid and Ask prices on the FP Markets MT4 / MT5 Platforms

Right-click anywhere on your chart.

For MT4, select ‘Properties’ (F8), then select the ‘Common’ tab. Following this, check the ‘Show Ask Line’ box to view the bid and ask prices on your selected chart.

For MT5, select ‘Properties’ (F8), then select the ‘Show’ tab and check the ‘Show ask price line’ box to view the bid and ask prices on your selected chart.

Forex Spreads - FAQs

What does Spread mean in the Forex market?

Spread in Forex is the difference between the bid price and ask price. The Spread cost is measured in ‘pips’ or ‘points’ and is the primary cost of trading. A currency pair’s spread can be influenced by a number of factors, including volatility and liquidity.

How is Spread calculated in the Forex market?

Spread in Forex is calculated by taking the difference between the current bid and ask prices of a currency pair.

Spread = Ask Price − Bid Price

For instance, the EUR/AUD currency pair is quoted as AU$1.6162/AU$1.6163. Simply subtract the ask price (AU$1.6163) from the bid price ($AU1.6162) to determine the spread: 0.0001.

What does a Forex Spread tell traders?

Knowing the forex spread of a specific currency pair provides traders with insights into the market’s volatility and liquidity. As a result, forex spreads can serve as indicators of overall market conditions.

How do Spreads affect profits?

Short-term trading strategies such as scalping and day trading are more likely to be affected by widening spreads. Wider spreads lead to increased trading costs, reducing the potential for profitable trades.

Long-term trading strategies, like swing or position trading, are less likely to be impacted by wider spreads.

What is a high and low Spread in Forex?

A high (wide) spread is defined as a wide bid/ask spread. For example, imagine a usual spread of 1 pip compared with a spread of 7 pips for the same trading instrument. So, in this example, the instrument may have a bid rate of US$1.0050 and an ask rate of US$1.0057, revealing a wide spread. A low spread in this example, therefore, could be reflected using the same bid rate of US$1.0050, though with a smaller ask rate of US$1.0051 (this is a 1-pip spread).

Spreads

(May 2025)

Spreads on our MetaTrader 4 platform are variable, with quotes from major international financial institutions. During liquid times our industry-leading spreads can go as low as 0.0 pips. Our more typical spreads are listed below.

FOREX

METAL

CFD INDICES

CFD COMMODITIES

CRYPTOCURRENCY

Symbol	Product	Standard A/c		Raw ECN A/c
Symbol	Product	Min	Avg	Min	Avg
AUDCAD	Australian Dollar vs Canadian Dollar	-	1.9	0	1.1
AUDCHF	Australian Dollar vs Swiss Franc	-	1.9	0	0.8
AUDJPY	Australian Dollar vs Japanese Yen	-	1.9	0	0.8
AUDNZD	Australian Dollar vs New Zealand Dollar	-	1.7	0	0.9
AUDSGD	Australian Dollar vs Singapore Dollar	-	3.2	0	1.7
AUDUSD	Australian Dollar vs US Dollar	-	1.4	0	0.3
BWPUSD	Botswanan Pula vs US Dollar	-	1.8	1.1	1.8
CADCHF	Canadian Dollar vs Swiss Franc	-	1.6	0	0.8
CADJPY	Canadian Dollar vs Japanese Yen	-	1.7	0	0.6
CHFJPY	Swiss Franc vs Japanese Yen	-	2.2	0	1.1
CHFSGD	Swiss Franc vs Singapore Dollar	-	4.3	0	3.2
EURAUD	Euro vs Australian Dollar	-	2.3	0	1.2
EURCAD	Euro vs Canadian Dollar	-	3.1	0	1.4
EURCHF	Euro vs Swiss Franc	-	1.9	0	0.8
EURCZK	Euro vs Czech Koruna	-	117.7	0	100.3
EURDKK	Euro vs Danish Krone	-	11	1.4	5
EURGBP	Euro vs Great Britain Pound	-	1.4	0	0.3
EURHUF	Euro vs Hungarian Forint	-	121	0	20.6
EURJPY	Euro vs Japanese Yen	-	1.9	0	0.8
EURMXN	Euro vs Mexican Peso	-	67.4	0	47.5
EURNOK	Euro vs Norwegian Krone	-	70.9	0	63.4
EURNZD	Euro vs New Zealand Dollar	-	3	0	1.9
EURPLN	Euro vs Polish Zloty	-	21.2	0	17.9
EURSEK	Euro vs Swedish Krona	-	64.6	0	59.1
EURSGD	Euro vs Singapore Dollar	-	2.9	0	1.8
EURTRY	Euro vs Turkish Lira	-	498.3	0	495.2
EURUSD	Euro vs US Dollar	-	1.2	0	0.1
EURZAR	Euro vs South African Rand	-	80	0	68.5
GBPAUD	Great Britain Pound vs Australian Dollar	-	3.5	0	2.4
GBPCAD	Great Britain Pound vs Canadian Dollar	-	3	0	1.9
GBPCHF	Great Britain Pound vs Swiss Franc	-	2.7	0	1.6
GBPDKK	Great Britain Pound vs Danish Krone	-	24.3	7.7	18.3
GBPJPY	Great Britain Pound vs Japanese Yen	-	2.2	0	1.1
GBPMXN	Great Britain Pound vs Mexican Peso	-	81.5	0	61.5
GBPNOK	Great Britain Pound vs Norwegian Krone	-	68.6	0	61.1
GBPNZD	Great Britain Pound vs New Zealand Dollar	-	3.9	0	2.4
GBPPLN	Great Britain Pound vs Polish Zloty	-	44.1	6.7	42.6
GBPSEK	Great Britain Pound vs Swedish Krona	-	115.7	0	111
GBPSGD	Great Britain Pound vs Singapore Dollar	-	3.2	0.3	2
GBPTRY	Great Britain Pound vs Turkish Lira	-	765.6	110.4	758.6
GBPUSD	Great Britain Pound vs US Dollar	-	1.5	0	0.4
NZDCAD	New Zealand Dollar vs Canadian Dollar	-	2	0	1.2
NZDCHF	New Zealand Dollar vs Swiss Franc	-	1.6	0	0.8
NZDJPY	New Zealand Dollar vs Japanese Yen	-	1.9	0	0.8
NZDSGD	New Zealand Dollar vs Singapore Dollar	-	2.2	0.1	1.1
NZDUSD	New Zealand Dollar vs US Dollar	-	1.6	0	0.4
USDBRL	US Dollar vs Brazilian Real	-	35.6	10	25.6
USDCAD	US Dollar vs Canadian Dollar	-	1.5	0	0.4
USDCHF	US Dollar vs Swiss Franc	-	1.7	0	0.6
USDCLP	US Dollar vs Chilean Peso	-	556.5	60	556.5
USDCNH	US Dollar vs Chinese Yuan	-	1.7	0	0.6
USDCOP	US Dollar vs Colombian Peso	-	3334.7	60	3334.7
USDCZK	US Dollar vs Czech Koruna	-	91.2	0	73.8
USDDKK	US Dollar vs Danish Krone	-	14.5	0	8.5
USDHKD	US Dollar vs Hong Kong Dollar	-	6.8	0	5.7
USDHUF	US Dollar vs Hungarian Forint	-	228.1	0	14.5
USDINR	US Dollar vs Indian Rupee	-	21.8	10	11.8
USDJPY	US Dollar vs Japanese Yen	-	1.4	0	0.3
USDKES	US Dollar vs Kenyan Shilling	-	963.6	662.4	963
USDKRW	US Dollar vs Korean Won	-	80.2	10	60.3
USDMXN	US Dollar vs Mexican Peso	-	42.7	4	36.7
USDNOK	US Dollar vs Norwegian Krone	-	64.2	0	55.7
USDPLN	US Dollar vs Polish Zloty	-	19.5	0	15.8
USDSEK	US Dollar vs Swedish Krona	-	56.2	0	47.5
USDSGD	US Dollar vs Singapore Dollar	-	1.9	0	1.1
USDTHB	US Dollar vs Thai Baht	-	185.2	0	165.2
USDTRY	US Dollar vs Turkish Lira	-	236.1	0	233.6
USDTWD	US Dollar vs New Taiwan dollar	-	5	2	5
USDUGX	US Dollar vs Ugandan Shilling	-	200.8	200.8	200.8
USDZAR	US Dollar vs South African Rand	-	49.9	2	39

Symbol	Product	Standard A/c	Raw ECN A/c
Symbol	Product	Standard A/c	Min	Avg
XAGAUD	Silver vs Australian Dollar	0.05	0.01	0.042
XAGEUR	Silver vs Euro	0.02	0.004	0.012
XAGUSD	Silver vs US Dollar	0.02	0.004	0.014
XAUAUD	Gold vs Australian Dollar	0.81	0.06	0.71
XAUEUR	Gold vs Euro	0.37	0.08	0.19
XAUUSD	Gold vs US Dollar	0.26	0.07	0.12
XPDUSD	Palladium vs US Dollar	8.81	-	-
XPTUSD	Platinum vs US Dollar	4.01	-	-
XPBUSD	Lead vs US Dollar	3.98	2.25	3.84
XZNUSD	Zinc vs US Dollar	3.78	2.27	3.64
XNIUSD	Nickel vs US Dollar	24.51	13.19	24.37
XALUSD	Aluminum vs US Dollar	3.73	2.15	3.59
XCUUSD	Copper vs US Dollar	5.79	1.18	5.65
XAUGBP	Gold vs Great Britain Pound	0.43	0.06	0.31
XAUSGD	Gold vs Singapore Dollar	0.86	0.04	0.67
XAGSGD	Silver vs Singapore Dollar	0.023	0.004	0.017
XAUCNH	Gold vs Chinese Renminbi	4.26	0	3.24

Symbol	Product	Standard A/c
Symbol	Product	Min	Avg
ADAUSD	Cardano vs US Dollar	-	0.004
BCHUSD	Bitcoin Cash vs US Dollar	-	1.46
BTCUSD	Bitcoin vs US Dollar	-	19.21
DOGUSD	Dogecoin vs US Dollar	-	0.00128
DOTUSD	Polkadot vs US Dollar	-	0.029
EOSUSD	EOS vs US Dollar	-	0.0088
ETHUSD	Etherium vs US Dollar	-	4.32
LNKUSD	Chainlink vs US Dollar	-	0.043
LTCUSD	Litecoin vs US Dollar	-	1.01
RPLUSD	Ripple vs US Dollar	-	0.0015
SOLUSD	Solana vs US Dollar	-	0.898
XLMUSD	Stellar vs US Dollar	-	0.00285

Symbol	Product	Standard A/c
Symbol	Product	Min	Avg
COCOA	Cocoa vs US Dollar Cash	-	20.69
COTTON	Us Cotton No.2 vs US Dollar Future	-	2.12
SUGAR	Us Sugar No.11 vs US Dollar Future	-	2.04
COFFEE	US Coffee vs US Dollar Future	-	1.01
CORN	Corn vs US Dollar Cash	-	0.71
SOYBEANS	Soybeans vs US Dollar Cash	-	1.11
WHEAT	Wheat vs US Dollar Cash	-	2.11
WTI	West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil vs US Dollar Future	-	0.04
XBRUSD	Brent Crude Oil vs US Dollar Cash	-	0.04
XNGUSD	Natural Gas vs US Dollar Cash	-	0.02
XTIUSD	West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil vs US Dollar Cash	-	0.04
BRENT	Brent Crude Oil vs US Dollar Future	-	0.05

Symbol	Product	Standard A/c
Symbol	Product	Min	Avg
AUS200	Australia 200 Index vs Australian Dollar Cash	-	1.33
CHINA50	China A50 Index vs US Dollar Cash	-	8.01
EURO50	Euro 50 Index vs Euro Cash	-	2.05
FRA40	CAC 40 Index vs Euro Cash	-	2.3
GER40	German 40 Index vs Euro Cash	-	1.4
HK50	Hang Seng Index vs Hong Kong Dollar Cash	-	4.55
ITA40	Italy 40 index vs Euro Future	-	15
JP225	Japan 225 Index vs Japanese Yen Cash	-	4.8
SPA35	Spain 35 Index vs Euro Cash	-	5.66
UK100	UK100 Index vs Great Britain Pound Cash	-	1.27
US100	US Tech 100 Index vs US Dollar Cash	-	1.29
US30	US 30 Index vs US Dollar Cash	-	1.2
US500	US 500 Index vs US Dollar Cash	-	0.46
USDX	USD Index Basket vs US Dollar Future	-	0.05
VIX	VIX Index Cash vs US Dollar Future	-	0.16

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Forex & CFD Spreads

What is spread in Forex trading?

Trade FX with competitive spreads

Click on a product to view our typical spreads

How do spreads affect your trades?

Traders should closely monitor changes in spreads for their preferred financial instruments. Specific groups of traders, such as scalpers and day traders, base their decisions on even the most minor spread changes.

High Spreads

Low Spreads

Forex Spread fundamentals

Bid vs Ask Price

How to calculate Forex Spreads: an example

Which factors can affect Spreads?

Fixed and Variable Spreads

Industry-leading Forex Spreads

Forex Trading Accounts

Standard

Raw

MetaTrader Standard & Raw commission charges

Trade execution matters

Monitoring live Forex Spreads on the FP Markets MT4 / MT5 platforms

Chart Bid and Ask prices on the FP Markets MT4 / MT5 Platforms

Forex Spreads - FAQs

What does Spread mean in the Forex market?

How is Spread calculated in the Forex market?

What does a Forex Spread tell traders?

How do Spreads affect profits?

What is a high and low Spread in Forex?

Spreads

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