Bid/Ask Spread

Table of Contents:

 

What is a bid ask spread?

The bid-ask spread is the difference between the price that the market maker is willing to buy for a currency (the bid) and the price at which the market maker is willing to sell a currency (the ask).

It is a key indicator of the liquidity of the currency pair.

 

How to calculate bid ask spread

The bid-ask spread can be calculated as the difference between the asking price (the lowest price a seller is willing to accept) and the bid price (the highest price a buyer is willing to pay).

Bid-Ask spread = Ask price – Bid price

                  

Bid-ask spread example

A business needs to purchase 1,000,000 EUR and sell GBP, he is given the below exchange rate:

  • Sell EUR / Buy GBP rate: 0.85755
  • Buy EUR / Sell GBP: 0.85759

Bid/Ask spread: 0.85759 - 0.89759 = 0.00004 (4 pips)

Bid/Ask spread %: 0.04/0.85 = 0.0047%

 

Bid-ask spread example

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