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, they are given the below exchange rates:

  • Sell EUR / Buy GBP rate: 0.8576
  • Buy EUR / Sell GBP: 0.8575

Bid-Ask spread: 0.8575 - 0.8576 = 0.0001 (1 pip)

 

Related terms:

 

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