The Contract Is a Weight, Not a Cash Amount
When you trade a standard lot of XAU/USD, you are trading a contract whose size is defined in troy ounces. The specification is 100 troy ounces per standard lot, with a pip of $0.01 and a pip value of $1.00 per standard lot. That pip value is fixed by the contract, but the notional cash value of the position is not: it is simply the gold price multiplied by 100, so it changes with every tick. The calculator above the text reports the current notional value, and it will differ from any figure you might have seen earlier.
Because the contract is a weight, the only fixed numbers are the contract specification itself. Traders who want a smaller or larger exposure adjust the lot size: 0.01, 0.10 or 1 standard lot. Each of those represents a different number of troy ounces, but the underlying cash value still moves with the gold price. There is no single answer to 'how much is one lot worth' that stays true across sessions or even across minutes.
| Instrument class | Spot gold |
|---|---|
| One pip | 0.01 |
| Standard lot | 100 troy ounces |
| Value of one pip per lot | $1.00 |
| Typical spread | 30 pips — · FxPro verified |
| Notional value of one lot | — |
| Margin on one lot at 1:30 / 1:100 / 1:500 | — |
The last two rows move with the market and are filled in from the live rate; everything above them is fixed by the contract. Leverage available to you depends on your regulator and account type — check it in the platform before you size a position.
Why the Position Size Feels Different From a Currency Pair
In a currency pair, the base currency is itself a unit of account, and the notional value of a standard lot is often treated as a familiar round number. Gold is different: the base 'currency' is a physical commodity measured in troy ounces, and its price is quoted in the account's currency, which may be any of several. A standard lot of gold therefore represents a notional exposure that can be many times larger than a standard lot of a major currency pair, even though the lot label is the same. That mismatch is what catches out traders who assume 'one lot' means the same thing everywhere.
The pip value being fixed at $1.00 per standard lot does not make the position small. It means that each pip of movement in the gold price translates into a predictable dollar amount per lot, while the total notional value remains tied to the gold price. If you are used to calculating risk from a notional that barely moves, gold will feel disproportionately large because the notional itself is volatile. The calculator above shows the current figure, so you can see the size of the exposure before you commit.
| Currency | Central bank | Policy rate | What moves it |
|---|---|---|---|
| XAU | No issuer | Priced in USD | real US yields · FOMC · fund flows |
| USD | Federal Reserve (Fed) | Federal funds target range | FOMC · CPI · jobs data |
Reading the Live Calculator Instead of Memorising a Number
Since the cash value of a standard lot cannot be written down as a fixed figure, the only reliable source is the live calculator, which updates with the gold price. It reports the notional value, the pip value for your chosen lot size, and any margin requirement based on your broker's terms. Those figures move with the market and with your account currency, so they are never the same for every trader. Use the calculator to see what one standard lot, 0.10 lots or 0.01 lots actually represents in your account currency at the moment you are trading.
When you plan a trade, start from the contract specification: 100 troy ounces per standard lot, a pip of $0.01, and a pip value of $1.00 per standard lot. Then let the calculator supply the live notional and margin figures. That way you are not relying on a stale number from a previous session or a different account currency. The session you trade in — whether the Asian, European or American session — will have its own price, and the calculator will reflect it.
Spreads are tightest when two sessions are open at once and widest when one desk has gone home and the next has not arrived. The shaded band is the overlap.
Gold pip values use the fixed contract specification combined with live ECB reference rates. All values are indicative and for educational purposes — not live trading quotes. See full pip value table →