MCX Gold vs XAUUSD: Contract Sizes, Hours, Margin and Which to Learn First

The short answer

MCX gold and XAUUSD are two ways of quoting the same metal. XAUUSD is the global spot price in US dollars per troy ounce. MCX gold is an Indian futures contract in rupees, usually per 10 grams, and its price is roughly the XAUUSD price converted at the USD/INR rate plus Indian duties and costs.

For most Indian traders the practical answer is: learn the market on the XAUUSD chart, because that is where gold’s price is discovered, and check the rules before you choose where to trade. For Indian residents, overseas XAUUSD platforms raise legal questions under FEMA, which we cover at the end and in our guide to trading gold in India.

MCX gold contract sizes

MCX lists several gold contracts so traders with different account sizes can take part. Per MCX contract specifications:

Tick sizes, purity, delivery rules, expiry dates and margins differ between these contracts and are revised from time to time. Before you trade any of them, read the current specification sheet on the MCX website. Do not rely on a summary, including this one, for the numbers that decide your risk.

How that compares with XAUUSD lot sizes

On spot gold, 1 standard lot = 100 troy ounces, and many providers offer 0.01 lots (1 ounce). A $1 move in gold is worth $100 on one standard lot and $1 on 0.01 lots. The XAUUSD pip calculator does the arithmetic for any size.

Put both in grams and the gap is clear: one standard XAUUSD lot is about 3.11 kg of gold, three times an MCX Gold contract. A 0.01 lot (1 ounce, about 31.1 g) sits between Gold Guinea and Gold Mini.

Price: rupees per 10 grams vs dollars per ounce

The conversion

One troy ounce is 31.1035 grams. So:

Rupees per 10 g (before duties) = USD per ounce × USD/INR × 10 ÷ 31.1035

Worked example (hypothetical numbers, not today’s prices):

• XAUUSD = $4,000 per ounce
• USD/INR = 88
• $4,000 × 88 = ₹352,000 per ounce
• ₹352,000 × 10 ÷ 31.1035 = about ₹113,170 per 10 g

The MCX quote you see will normally be higher than this figure, because Indian gold carries import duty and other charges, and because a futures price for a later month also reflects the cost of carrying gold until expiry. The gap between the two is not fixed: it changes when duties change and when local demand is strong or weak.

Why the rupee matters

On MCX you are effectively exposed to two prices at once: gold in dollars and the dollar in rupees. If XAUUSD is flat and the rupee weakens against the dollar, MCX gold rises. If gold rallies in dollars on the same day the rupee strengthens, the MCX move is smaller than the XAUUSD move.

That is why MCX traders keep a USD/INR chart open next to XAUUSD. A trader who reads only the MCX chart can misjudge a move that came from the currency, not from gold.

Moving a dollar stop into rupees

Most level-based education, including our weekly gold forecast, is written in dollars. To use a dollar level on MCX, convert the distance, not just the price:

• A $10 move per ounce = $10 × 10 ÷ 31.1035 = about $3.22 per 10 g
• At a hypothetical USD/INR of 88, that is about ₹283 per 10 g
• On a 100 g contract quoted per 10 g, that is about ₹2,830 per contract

Check the arithmetic against your broker’s contract value before relying on it.

Trading hours: IST vs the 23-hour spot session

India uses IST (UTC+5:30) with no daylight saving, while New York and London change their clocks. That makes the overlap between MCX and the global session move twice a year.

Two consequences matter for traders:

1. MCX is open for the big US releases (CPI, jobs report) in the Indian evening, so the most volatile minutes of the gold day land inside its session.
2. Fed decisions sit at or after the MCX close. In US winter the statement comes out at 12:30 am IST, after MCX has shut, so an MCX position held overnight is exposed to a Fed reaction it cannot trade until the next morning. Spot gold keeps trading through it.

The gold market hours tool shows the live sessions in IST, and our IST session guide goes hour by hour.

Margin and leverage in general terms

On MCX, margin is set by the exchange and SEBI rules. It is usually expressed as a percentage of contract value, it can be raised when volatility rises, and it is collected and settled daily (mark-to-market). There is no “1:500” style number to choose.

On XAUUSD CFDs, the provider usually expresses margin as a leverage ratio, and the amount allowed depends on the provider’s regulator and the client’s status. Higher leverage lets a small deposit control a large position, which also means a small move can wipe out the deposit.

Whichever route you use, the leverage number is not your risk. Your risk is the distance to your stop multiplied by your position size. Work that out first, with the position size calculator for dollar positions or the conversion above for MCX, and size so that one loss is a small, fixed share of the account.

Which one to learn first, and why

Learn on the XAUUSD chart first. Three reasons:

1. It is the reference price. MCX, COMEX futures, gold ETFs and jewellery rates all follow the global dollar price. When gold reacts to a Fed decision, the reaction starts in XAUUSD.
2. The education is written for it. Levels, session behaviour, event-day routines and almost every gold chart you will see online are in dollars per ounce. Learning in the same unit saves you converting every idea.
3. It removes the currency noise. On MCX, part of every move is USD/INR. While you are still learning to read gold structure, it helps to study gold on its own first.

Then trade through a route that is legal for you. For an Indian resident, that usually means the smallest MCX contract through a SEBI-registered broker, after a few weeks of paper trading the same plan. Keep the XAUUSD chart open as your analysis chart and the MCX chart as your execution chart.

A sensible sequence:

• [ ] Learn the basics of what XAUUSD is and what moves gold prices.
• [ ] Paper trade your plan on the XAUUSD chart in your IST window for several weeks.
• [ ] Read the MCX specification for the contract you plan to use: size, quotation, tick, margin, expiry and delivery.
• [ ] Practise the dollar-to-rupee stop conversion until it is automatic.
• [ ] Start with the smallest contract and keep a trading journal.

The regulatory note for Indian residents

For Indian residents, trading forex or CFDs, including XAUUSD, on overseas online platforms is generally not permitted under FEMA, and remitting money abroad for margin trading is generally not allowed under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. The RBI publishes an Alert List of unauthorised forex trading platforms, and it is not exhaustive.

This article does not name or recommend any broker or platform. Check the current position on the RBI and SEBI websites, verify any Indian broker’s SEBI registration and exchange membership yourself, and take qualified advice if you are unsure. Our India guide explains the rules in more detail.

Practise the reading with other traders

The hardest part of trading MCX gold is not the contract; it is reading gold well and sticking to a plan in the evening session, when the US numbers hit. That is easier with company. Inside the XAUUSD Global community you are matched, after a 7-day settling-in week, into a pod of 5 to 8 traders on your level and session, with a short stand-up before London and New York. Indian members bring their MCX and XAUUSD charts as screenshots, compare reads and review their trades together. No links, no signals, just reasoning.

Your first month is free, then $19.99/month, cancel any time. See how the community works.

Sources

• Multi Commodity Exchange of India: contract specifications, margins and timings for each gold contract
• Reserve Bank of India: FEMA, the Liberalised Remittance Scheme and the Alert List
• Securities and Exchange Board of India: registered brokers and commodity derivatives rules
• CME Group: gold futures: global futures hours and contract details for comparison

Educational content only, not financial, legal or tax advice. Trading gold with leverage carries a high risk of loss.

Frequently asked questions