Tick in gold trading
A tick is the minimum price change of an instrument; COMEX gold futures move in $0.10 ticks worth $10 per contract, while XAUUSD usually ticks in $0.01.
Also called Minimum price fluctuation, Tick size
A tick is the smallest price change an instrument can make. On COMEX gold futures (GC) the tick size is $0.10 per troy ounce, which on a 100-ounce contract is $10 per tick. On most retail XAUUSD feeds the tick is $0.01. “Tick” is also used loosely to mean any single price update, which is why tick charts and tick volume count updates rather than contracts traded.
How it applies to gold trading
Tick size sets the resolution of your profit and loss. A futures trader cannot place a stop at $4,000.05 because GC only trades in dime steps; a spot trader can. Tick value is the dollar amount of one tick for your position: $10 per GC contract, $1 per standard XAUUSD lot per $0.01 tick.
Tick volume, the number of price updates per candle, is the only volume most spot platforms can show, since there is no central exchange for spot gold. It is a rough proxy for activity, not a count of ounces traded. For real traded volume and open interest, traders look at COMEX futures data.
Comparing tick volume with the real COMEX volume for the same hour is a useful exercise: the shapes usually agree, which is why tick volume is tolerated as a proxy, but the absolute numbers never match.
A common mistake
Treating tick volume on a spot chart as if it were exchange volume. Two platforms with different price feeds will show different tick volume for the same candle.
See also: Point, Pip, GC futures, Volume profile.
Frequently asked questions
What is the tick value of gold futures?
COMEX gold (GC) moves in $0.10 increments, worth $10 per 100-ounce contract. The smaller micro gold contract (MGC, 10 ounces) has a $0.10 tick worth $1.
Is tick volume real volume?
No. It counts price updates on your platform’s feed, not ounces traded. It is useful for spotting active periods but cannot be compared across platforms.