forex gold symbol

Gold and Silver in the Forex Market

In the Forex market, gold (symbol XAU / USD) is considered a form of currency in the same way as silver (XAG / USD). In this case, gold trading is done electronically as well as other currencies. Gold and silver spot are traded similarly to Forex currency pairs by a margin. In most cases, the brokers offer a leverage of 1: 100 for the transactions with these precious metals.

Currently, both gold and spot silver are traded only against the US dollar (USD). Therefore, quotes are always expressed in USD terms. As with transactions with currency pairs in the Forex market, spot gold and silver transactions do not require the physical delivery and delivery of the raw material (underlying asset) negotiated. The trader does not buy gold or silver that he can keep in his possession. The trading method for these two precious metals in the spot market (spot market) is known as Over The Counter or OTC. OTC transactions are not part of any duly organized securities or futures market of any country, and therefore operations are not controlled by the same methods used in a centralized market such as a stock exchange. The negotiations carried out in the OTC markets are carried out directly between the buyer and the seller, that is, between the two parties to the transaction, without the intervention of a third party.

Trading hours with gold and silver spot
Instrument code Market name Opening (GMT + 2) Closing (GMT + 2) Break (GMT + 2)
XAU / USD Gold Monday 01:00 Friday 23:00 00: 00-01: 00
XAG / USD Silver Monday 01:00 Friday 23:00 00: 00-01: 00


The price of gold is measured by its weight. 
The XAU / USD quote shows how much an ounce of gold costs in US dollars. For example, if the price of gold (XAU / USD) is $ 1500.00, this means that an ounce of gold is being traded at the US $ 1500.00. Similarly, silver quotes show the price of an ounce of silver in USD. If the price of silver (XAG / USD) is 27.00, this means that one ounce of silver has a value of US $ 28.00.

In the case of transactions with gold and silver spot, if a trader buys gold for a value of $ 1500, this does not mean that this investor now has an ounce of gold in his possession which he can keep, but rather that he has the obligation to buy XAU at the US $ 1500. When this trader closes its position, what it does is sell the XAU (gold) in such a way that it closes or ends with its exposure. If the gold is sold for $ 1505 for example, in this case, the trader will have obtained a benefit of $ 5 for each ounce (unit) of gold in his contract. The same theory applies to transactions with spot silver. If a trader buys silver (XAG / USD) at $ 27.00 and sells it at $ 27.50, he earns a profit of $ 0.50 for every ounce of silver traded in the contract. Operations with spot gold and silver are relatively simple compared to other instruments, however, they can be risky given the volatility of the price of these commodities in the market.