Gold lot size calculator (XAUUSD)

Gold is quoted in dollars per ounce, and with the usual contract of 100 ounces per lot every $1 move in the price is $100 per lot. A $5 stop on one lot risks $500; to risk $100 with a $5 stop, trade 0.20 lot.

“Pips” on gold mean different things on different platforms — $0.01, $0.10 or $1 — so this calculator takes the stop as a price distance in dollars: entry 2 650.00, stop 2 645.00 is a $5 stop. Change the contract size if your broker uses 10 or 1 ounce per lot.

Account balance (USD)Risk per trade (%)Stop loss (dollars of price)Contract size per lotCheck with your brokerLot step

Lot size: 0.20
Loss at the stop: $100.00; planned $100.00
XAUUSD: per $1 of price, 1 lot: $100.00

XAUUSD lots are rounded down to the lot step, so the loss never exceeds the risk. No prices are fetched: everything is computed in your browser from the numbers above.

XAUUSD lot sizes for a $10 000 account

Stop (dollars of price)	0.5% risk ($50.00)	1% risk ($100.00)	2% risk ($200.00)
3	0.16	0.33	0.66
5	0.10	0.20	0.40
10	0.05	0.10	0.20

XAUUSD, 100 per lot: one $1 of price is $100.00 per lot. Lots rounded down to 0.01.

Contract size: check yours for XAUUSD

One lot of gold is 100 troy ounces at most brokers; some use 10 oz or 1 oz. Check the contract specification in MetaTrader.

In MetaTrader, right-click XAUUSD in Market Watch → Specification: “Contract size” is the number to put in the calculator. The formula is the same for every instrument: lots = risk ÷ (stop distance × contract size × quote-to-account rate).

Did your XAUUSD trades risk what you planned?

A calculator sizes the next trade. The journal checks the last hundred: it reads every MT4/MT5 XAUUSD trade, shows the real R of each from its stop, and with a max-loss-per-trade rule marks the trades that lost more than you allowed. Free for one account.

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Questions

›How much is one lot of gold?

Usually 100 troy ounces. At a price of 2 650 that is $265 000 of gold controlled by one lot, which is why most traders use 0.01–0.50 lots.

›What is a pip on XAUUSD?

It depends on the platform: many count $0.10 as a pip, some $0.01 or $1. Using the stop in dollars avoids the confusion.

›Why did my gold trade lose more than planned?

Often the contract size: a broker with 100 oz lots makes each lot ten times larger than one with 10 oz lots. Check the specification once and set it here.