Sri Lanka — Placing a Gold Order, Step by Step

Step 2 - the specification lines that decide the size

These are indicative conditions for gold as a CFD. Spread, commission and margin are variable, so the figures in your own order window are the ones the server will act on.

Step 3 - what the entry cost at the moment of capture

Across the same London–New York hours, the measured XAU/USD spread on an Exness Standard account was $0.26 per ounce, against $0.58 on an independent interbank reference feed — about 55% tighter. This is a live measurement, re-taken on a schedule (latest reading 2026-09-05), and this block is shown only while the measured spread stays below the reference.

Spreads may fluctuate and widen depending on liquidity, news and market conditions.

Full numbers: live spreads · trading costs · spread stability.

Step 4 - the range that sets the stop distance

30-day volatility is about 23.6% annualized — use the range and this reading to set the stop distance before choosing a volume, then price that distance at the contract value of 100 ounces per lot. Range figures here are an interbank market reference rather than a platform quote.

Step 5 - the context check before the order

Gold is trading around $4,430.89 per ounce and is down today. In the news over the past 48 hours, the conversation around gold is led by Bond yields, Fed & interest rates, Safe-haven demand.

Based on 34 gold-related stories in the last 48 hours via easternherald.com, en.tempo.co, finance.yahoo.com. The themes above are neutral market context gathered from public reporting — a reason to check the range before sizing, not a forecast, a recommendation or financial advice.

Step 1 - find the symbol and open its specification

Gold is traded on Exness as a CFD on spot XAU/USD, long or short, on MT4, MT5, the Exness Terminal and the app - the metal itself is never delivered. Before an order is sized, two lines of the contract specification decide everything downstream: the contract size of 100 ounces per lot and the minimum trade of 0.01 lots. Overnight swap applies to a position held past the daily rollover unless the account is swap-free, and leverage is available to verified clients with conditions applying, which changes the margin needed rather than the risk carried. The ticker is XAUUSD, or XAUUSDm on cent and mini accounts; today's spot reference and the 12-month range chart are shown above, and the typical measured spread is on the live spreads page.

• The instrument is a CFD on spot XAU/USD — go long or short, you never own the metal.
• Available on MetaTrader 5, MetaTrader 4, Exness Terminal, Exness Trade app, on desktop, web and the mobile app.
• Leverage Available to verified clients (conditions apply); the exact margin is shown in-platform before you trade.
• Overnight swap applies unless you hold a swap-free (Islamic) account.
• Minimum deposit none on Standard accounts.

Why gold is sized differently from a currency pair

The habit that causes trouble is carrying a forex lot size straight across. On most USD currency pairs one standard lot is 100,000 units and one pip is worth about $10. On gold one lot is 100 ounces, so a one-dollar move in the price is a hundred dollars on the position, and the same nominal lot size represents a completely different amount of exposure.

That is why the specification check comes before the volume field on this instrument rather than after it. Working from the contract size makes 0.01 lots readable as one ounce, which is a number that can be checked against the account rather than against a habit.

The overnight decision on a metal

Swap on gold is read the same way as on anything else - from the symbol specification, per side, per lot, per night - and on the triple-swap day the nightly amount is applied three times to cover the weekend. The measured swap page prints the current figures per instrument in dollars per lot per night.

If overnight interest is to be avoided rather than budgeted for, gold is among the instruments the swap-free setting covers. The spread and any account commission still apply, so only the overnight line changes.

Where a gold order stalls, and what it means

Three refusals cover almost everything. An order rejected outside Monday to Friday hours is a closed market, not a fault. An order rejected for margin is a volume problem, and the fix is the contract size arithmetic rather than a retry. A volume field that will not accept the number entered is usually below the 0.01 lot minimum for the instrument.

None of the three is solved by sending the order again. Each one points back to a specific earlier step: the session check, the margin check, or the specification. Going back one step is faster than re-clicking, and it is the difference between a walkthrough and guesswork.

Sending a first gold order

1. Open the symbol tree and add XAUUSD from the metals branch. On a cent or mini account the same instrument is listed as XAUUSDm.
2. Open the contract specification and read two lines: contract size of 100 ounces per lot, and minimum volume of 0.01 lots.
3. Work the position value from those. A 0.01 lot is one ounce of exposure, so the money at stake per dollar of price movement is a single dollar.
4. Check the margin the order window shows against free margin before confirming, exactly as with any other instrument.
5. Decide the holding period now, not later: overnight swap applies past the daily rollover unless the account is swap-free.
6. Send the order long or short, then attach a stop-loss at a distance you have already converted into money.

Gold trades around 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday, and is closed at the weekend. An order that will not send outside those hours is a closed market.

The gold order, screen by screen

Every line here is read in the platform. Nothing on this page replaces the figure the order window shows at confirmation.

Where this walkthrough goes next