What is a pip in gold?
Gold has no official pip. Most brokers and traders call a $0.10 move in the gold price one pip, but some count $0.01 as a pip. MT5 itself doesn't use pips at all: it measures in points, and on a gold price quoted with two decimals, such as 4,286.20, one point is $0.01. Check how your broker counts it, because the same trade can be called 10 pips or 100 pips.
Gold pip value = Pip size × 100 oz × Lots
With a $0.10 pip, one pip on 1 lot is $0.10 × 100 = $10, on 0.10 lot $1 and on 0.01 lot $0.10. With a $0.01 pip, divide each by ten. The calculator uses $0.10 by default; change the pip size under Contract settings if your broker uses $0.01.
1 dollar is how many pips in gold?
A $1 move in the gold price is 10 pips if your broker counts a pip as $0.10, and 100 pips if it counts $0.01. Either way the money is the same: $1 on 0.01 lot, $10 on 0.10 lot and $100 on 1 lot.
| Gold price move | Pips ($0.10 pip) | Pips ($0.01 pip) | 0.01 lot | 0.10 lot | 1 lot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.10 | 1 | 10 | $0.10 | $1 | $10 |
| $0.50 | 5 | 50 | $0.50 | $5 | $50 |
| $1.00 | 10 | 100 | $1 | $10 | $100 |
| $5.00 | 50 | 500 | $5 | $50 | $500 |
| $10.00 | 100 | 1,000 | $10 | $100 | $1,000 |
| $20.00 | 200 | 2,000 | $20 | $200 | $2,000 |
| $50.00 | 500 | 5,000 | $50 | $500 | $5,000 |
10 pips and 100 pips in gold
| Pips | Your broker's pip | Price move | 0.01 lot | 0.10 lot | 1 lot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 pip | $0.10 pip | $0.10 | $0.10 | $1 | $10 |
| 1 pip | $0.01 pip | $0.01 | $0.01 | $0.10 | $1 |
| 10 pips | $0.10 pip | $1.00 | $1 | $10 | $100 |
| 10 pips | $0.01 pip | $0.10 | $0.10 | $1 | $10 |
| 50 pips | $0.10 pip | $5.00 | $5 | $50 | $500 |
| 50 pips | $0.01 pip | $0.50 | $0.50 | $5 | $50 |
| 100 pips | $0.10 pip | $10.00 | $10 | $100 | $1,000 |
| 100 pips | $0.01 pip | $1.00 | $1 | $10 | $100 |
| 500 pips | $0.10 pip | $50.00 | $50 | $500 | $5,000 |
| 500 pips | $0.01 pip | $5.00 | $5 | $50 | $500 |
So "100 pips in gold" is a $10 move, worth $1,000 on 1 lot, if your broker uses $0.10 pips, but only a $1 move, worth $100 on 1 lot, if it uses $0.01 pips. When someone quotes gold pips, ask which one they mean.
Gold pips profit: a worked example
Buy 0.20 lots of XAUUSD at 4,286.20 and close at 4,296.20. The price moved $10.00, which is 100 pips at $0.10 per pip.
Profit = Price move × 100 oz × Lots = $10.00 × 100 × 0.20 = $200
The profit calculator does this for any entry and exit, with spread, and the XAUUSD lot size calculator works backwards from your stop loss to the lot size.
Does the gold price change the pip value?
Not on a US dollar account. Gold is quoted in dollars, so a $0.10 pip on 1 lot is always $10, whether gold is at 2,000 or 4,300. What the price does change is the margin: one lot of gold is worth about $428,620 at 4,286.20, so it needs far more margin than one lot of EURUSD. On an account in rupees, euros or another currency, the dollar pip value is converted at the day's rate, which the calculator does for you.
Common gold pip mistakes
- Mixing up the two pip conventions, and sizing a trade ten times too big.
- Reading MT5 points as pips. On a gold price with two decimals, a 500-point stop is $5.00, which is 50 pips at $0.10. Some brokers quote gold with three decimals, and there 500 points is only $0.50.
- Assuming 1 lot is 100 oz everywhere. Most brokers use 100 oz, but check the contract size in the symbol's specification.
The full explanation, with pictures, is in gold pip value.