FXCM Contract Sizes: A Quick Guide

When trading with FXCM, it's essential to know exactly what one contract represents—whether it's gold, oil, forex, or indices. To save you time and confusion, here's a clear and simplified breakdown of what one contract equals across FXCM's most popular instruments.

Forex

  • 1 contract = 1,000 units of base currency (micro lot).
  • Example: 1 contract for EUR/USD = €1,000

Commodities

  • Gold (XAU/USD): 1 contract = 1 ounce
  • Silver (XAG/USD): 1 contract = 1 ounce (varies by broker/platform)
  • USOil / UKOil: 1 contract = 10 barrels

Indices

  • FXCM uses fractional contract sizes for index CFDs. The multiplier (which determines how much value each contract controls per point) varies by instrument:

    • Examples:

      • US30 = 0.1 of the Dow
      • SPX500 = 1 unit of the S&P 500 (FXCM uses a multiplier of 1 for SPX500)
      • GER30 = 0.1 of the DAX

Cryptocurrencies

  • BTC/USD (Bitcoin):
    1 contract = 1% of the Bitcoin price
    Or 100 FXCM BTC contracts = 1 BTC
  • ETH/USD (Ethereum) and BCH/USD (Bitcoin Cash):
    1 contract = 10% of the asset price
  • LTC/USD (Litecoin) and XLM/USD:
    1 contract = 1 full coin
  • FXCM scales pip values for retail traders. You can view real-time pip costs in your account currency directly on the Trading Station / MT4 platforms before placing a trade.