XAUUSD Pip Value Calculator

Knowing what one point of XAUUSD is actually worth, before you size a trade, is what this calculator answers — using XAUUSD's own real contract size and point value rather than a flat forex assumption.

How do I calculate pip value for XAUUSD?

At XAUUSD's stored contract size (100 units per lot), here's what one point of movement is worth at three common lot sizes.

Say a trader opens 0.50 lots of XAUUSD, with a stop loss 6567 points away and a take profit 13134 points away.

Why does pip value change between instruments?

Pip/point value depends on an instrument's own contract size convention and current price, not a universal rule. XAUUSD is worth $1.00 per point per lot at its stored contract size — a different contract size (common across brokers for metals) would scale that figure directly.

Why is pip calculation different for non-standard-decimal instruments like this one?

Most forex majors use a 4-decimal pip convention, but plenty of instruments don't: JPY pairs use 2 decimals, and XAUUSD uses its own quoting convention (one point here equals a raw price move of 0.01). This calculator uses XAUUSD's own real pip/point size rather than assuming the generic 4-decimal convention, which would silently miscount the move.

What one point means on XAUUSD

The price has two decimals, and on this site one point is 0.01, so a 1.00 dollar move in gold is 100 points; some platforms call a 0.10 move a pip instead, so make sure you know which one your broker means.

On this site one point for XAUUSD is 0.01 in price. If XAUUSD rose from 4,400.00 to 4,415.00, the move is 15.00 ÷ 0.01 = 1,500 points.

How the value per point is calculated

For one lot: 0.01 × 100 = $1.00 per point for 1 lot, already in US dollars. Everything below uses $1.00 per point for 1.00 lot.

XAUUSD value per point at common lot sizes

• 1.00 lot: 1.00 × $1.00 = $1.00 per point.
• 0.10 lots: 0.10 × $1.00 = $0.10 per point.
• 0.01 lots: 0.01 × $1.00 = $0.01 per point.
• 5.00 lots: 5.00 × $1.00 = $5.00 per point.

Value per point grows in direct proportion to lot size, so doubling the lots doubles both the gain and the loss for every point price moves.

Worked example: what a stop costs on 0.30 lots of XAUUSD

• Entry 4,400.00, stop 4,385.00: the distance is 1,500 points.
• Value per point on 0.30 lots: 0.30 × $1.00 = $0.30.
• Money at risk if the stop is hit: 1,500 × 0.30 × $1.00 = $450.00.
• Spread of 120 points (an invented figure for this example): 120 × 0.30 × $1.00 = $36.00, which is 8% of the stop distance.

Spreads widen around the US data releases that move gold the most. On a 1,500 point stop the spread above takes 8% of the room before price moves at all, and on a stop half as wide, 750 points, it would take 16%.

Risk at other stop distances on 0.10 lots

• 750 points: 750 × 0.10 × $1.00 = $75.00.
• 1,500 points: 1,500 × 0.10 × $1.00 = $150.00.
• 3,000 points: 3,000 × 0.10 × $1.00 = $300.00.
• 6,000 points: 6,000 × 0.10 × $1.00 = $600.00.

Each doubling of the stop doubles the money at risk on the same lot size, which is why a wider stop needs a smaller position to keep the risk the same.

Working backwards: how far can the stop be?

Sometimes the lot size is fixed and the question is how wide the stop may be. Say you hold 0.10 lots of XAUUSD and will risk $100.

• Value per point on 0.10 lots: 0.10 × $1.00 = $0.10.
• Stop distance: $100 ÷ $0.10 = 1,000.0, rounded down to 1,000 points.
• Check: 1,000 × 0.10 × $1.00 = $100.00, inside the $100 budget.
• In price terms, 1,000 × 0.01 = 10.00, so a buy at 4,400.00 would have its stop at 4,390.00.

If that stop is too tight for how XAUUSD actually moves, the answer is fewer lots, not a stop that sits inside the normal noise. The XAUUSD lot size calculator does that step for you.

Does the value per point change?

No. XAUUSD is quoted in US dollars, so the value per point is fixed at $1.00 per lot whatever price does, and it will not drift between the time you size a trade and the time you close it.

Verify the XAUUSD point value with your broker

The contract size of 100 and the point size of 0.01 are reference values. Brokers can define a point or pip differently and quote an extra decimal, so compare $1.00 per point with the tick value in your platform's contract specification. For background on the instrument, see gold as an investment on Wikipedia.

Where to find the XAUUSD value in your platform

• Open the contract specification for XAUUSD (in MetaTrader, right-click the symbol in Market Watch and choose Specification).
• Check the contract size: this page assumes 100.
• Check the tick size and tick value, then scale to one point of 0.01 if they differ.
• Compare the result with $1.00 per point per lot; a gap of more than a few percent usually means a different contract size or a different conversion rate.

More tools for XAUUSD

• Turn a risk amount and a stop distance into a lot size with the XAUUSD lot size calculator.
• See how much margin that position ties up with the XAUUSD margin calculator.
• Work out the result of a finished trade with the XAUUSD profit and loss calculator.
• Compare risk and reward before entering with the XAUUSD risk reward ratio calculator.
• Mark support and resistance from yesterday's range with the XAUUSD pivot points calculator.
• Compare a similar instrument: XAGUSD pip value calculator.
• Compare a similar instrument: EURUSD pip value calculator.

Conclusion

This only holds if 100 units per lot is actually your own broker's real contract size for XAUUSD — it's a figure that varies by broker, especially outside plain forex majors. Always confirm your own platform's XAUUSD specification (Market Watch, then Specification) before trusting a pip/point value for a real trade. See the difference between points and pips, Wikipedia's entry on percentage in point (pip) for the underlying concept, and real MT4 screenshots comparing pip value across different lot sizes.

Contract specification

Frequently asked questions