Tick Size

Tick Size

What is tick size?

Tick ​​size is the smallest possible price movement a stock or security can experience while trading; it may vary depending on financial markets, types of securities, volume, and value of the trade.

Tick size increments are expressed in dollars or cents in the US markets. Stocks typically trade in one-cent increments, while currencies have tick sizes in pips and rates in basis points (bps).

How is tick size measured?

Many markets today use the decimal system.

Depending on the market, the tick size can be 0.1, 0.01 or some other decimal unit. For example, if a security is trading at 6.035 in a market where the tick size is 0.001, a price change can be registered at 6.036 when it moved up a tick, or 6.034 when it fell. Market publications indicate the size of the tick for reference.

Tick sizes in Forex

Pips are equivalent to 1/100, one basis point, or 0.01%. The forex market uses a four decimal quotation convention using pips for tick size.

For example, EUR/USD might have a bid of 1.1257. Some forex brokers also offer prices in pips to five decimal places. For example, the quote above could be further defined as 1.12573. There are 10 fractional points per pip. The point value varies depending on the currency pair.

To see the tick chart in MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, open the ‘Market Watch’ window and choose the ‘Ticks’ tab at the bottom.  

tick-sizes-metatrader.png

Why should investors care?

It is important for investors, who follow international markets, to know the increment size and how often the market updates its reporting. This information can be critical to investment and trading decisions. In addition, algo traders use tick data for testing and optimizing automatic trading systems and Expert Advisors.

Markets use tick size in a variety of ways. In addition to helping investors track the movement of stocks and securities, it can also be used to enforce certain trading rules. In many markets, certain types of transactions may only be allowed during established market movements or may be prohibited during others. For example, many markets only allow short selling during rallies, which prevents unscrupulous traders from taking advantage of the market and can also prevent panic, as can happen after a series of downturns that upset investors.

Back

2022-03-14 • Updated

Frequently asked questions

  • How to open an FBS account?

    Click the ‘Open account’ button on our website and proceed to the Personal Area. Before you can start trading, pass a profile verification. Confirm your email and phone number, get your ID verified. This procedure guarantees the safety of your funds and identity. Once you are done with all the checks, go to the preferred trading platform, and start trading. 

  • How to start trading?

    If you are 18+ years old, you can join FBS and begin your FX journey. To trade, you need a brokerage account and sufficient knowledge on how assets behave in the financial markets. Start with studying the basics with our free educational materials and creating an FBS account. You may want to test the environment with virtual money with a Demo account. Once you are ready, enter the real market and trade to succeed.

  • How to withdraw the money you earned with FBS?

    The procedure is very straightforward. Go to the Withdrawal page on the website or the Finances section of the FBS Personal Area and access Withdrawal. You can get the earned money via the same payment system that you used for depositing. In case you funded the account via various methods, withdraw your profit via the same methods in the ratio according to the deposited sums.

Deposit with your local payment systems

Data collection notice

FBS maintains a record of your data to run this website. By pressing the “Accept” button, you agree to our Privacy policy.

Callback

A manager will call you shortly.

Change number

Your request is accepted.

A manager will call you shortly.

Next callback request for this phone number
will be available in

If you have an urgent issue please contact us via
Live chat

Internal error. Please try again later

Don’t waste your time – keep track of how NFP affects the US dollar and profit!

You are using an older version of your browser.

Update it to the latest version or try another one for a safer, more comfortable and productive trading experience.

Safari Chrome Firefox Opera