Donaldson R F Trading tools · live data
Live Forex Spreads
The current spread of the main forex pairs, gold, silver and the main US indices. The figures come from a live trading account. If a market is closed or the data is old, the page says so instead of showing a number.
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The problem
A spread is a cost you pay without seeing a bill, and it is rarely the same twice. A price list or an advert gives one number, but the spread you are quoted when you click depends on the market at that moment.
What a spread is
Every market has two prices at the same time: the bid, which is what you get if you sell, and the ask, which is what you pay if you buy. The difference between them is the spread. If you buy and sell straight away, the spread is what you lose.
Why it varies
The spread is small when many buyers and sellers are active, for example when London and New York overlap. It widens around important news, at the daily rollover and when the market opens after a weekend. Gold, silver and the indices are quoted in different units from the currencies, so their spreads are not comparable with a pip count.
What is included
- The main forex pairs: EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF, USDCAD, AUDUSD and NZDUSD
- Gold and silver against the US dollar
- The main US indices: US30, US500 and US100
- The bid, the ask and the time of each reading, shown in your local time
What is not included
- A comparison between brokers or accounts: the figures come from one live trading account and say nothing about others
- History, averages or forecasts
- Any recommendation to trade at a particular time
How it works
- A program on a MetaTrader 5 terminal reads the current prices of these instruments from a live trading account.
- It sends the spread, bid, ask and time of each reading to
https://sync.donaldsonrf.comabout every 30 seconds. - This page reads that file in your browser and checks it again every 15 seconds.
- If a market is closed, a reading is more than five minutes old, or all readings are more than ten minutes old, the page says so and hides the figure.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a spread?
- The spread is the gap between the price you can buy at (the ask) and the price you can sell at (the bid). It is a cost you pay on every trade, on top of any commission.
- Why does the spread change?
- It depends on how many people are trading and how fast the price is moving. It is usually tightest when London and New York are both open, and it widens around important news releases, at the end of the trading day and when the market is about to open or close.
- Why is a spread missing or shown as "Market closed"?
- When a market is shut, the spread has no useful meaning, so the page hides it and says the market is closed. If a reading is more than five minutes old it is hidden as well, and if all readings are more than ten minutes old the page says the data is not available.
- Will I see the same spread on my own account?
- Not necessarily. These figures come from one live trading account. Your broker, account type, size of order and the moment you trade can all change the spread you are quoted.
- What are pips, price units and points?
- Forex spreads are in pips, the usual small step of a currency price (for most pairs the fourth decimal place, for yen pairs the second). Gold and silver are shown in US dollar price units, for example 0.25 means 25 cents. The US indices are shown in index points.
- How often is it updated?
- The account sends new readings about every 30 seconds while it is running, and this page checks for them every 15 seconds. The time of each reading is shown next to it.
- Is this advice to trade?
- No. It is information about a cost of trading, not a recommendation. Trading carries a high level of risk and you can lose more than you expected. Read the Risk Disclosure.