Symbol
Also called Ticker, Ticker symbol, Instrument, Trading symbol
A symbol is the short code a trading platform uses to name one tradable market, such as EURUSD for the euro against the US dollar or XAUUSD for gold. Every quote, chart and order is tied to exactly one symbol.
One market can appear under several symbols at the same broker, and each can have its own contract size, costs and trading hours. If you pick the wrong one, the same lot size risks a very different amount of money.
Reading a symbol: base, quote and broker suffix
A forex symbol joins two currency codes. The first is the base currency, the one you buy or sell. The second is the quote currency, the one the price is written in.
Many brokers add extra letters or a dot after the pair. This suffix marks an account type or a contract variant. Some brokers put the extra letters in front of the pair instead, as a prefix. The drawing below splits one such symbol into its parts.
Illustrative example: one broker might put the letters in front and list the pair as mEURUSD. Another might offer EURUSD.m and EURUSDraw side by side, and those two codes could carry a different commission and a different contract size.
Common symbols for gold, silver, oil, the Nasdaq, stocks and futures
Metals, energy and indices have no single naming rule, so the same market shows up under different codes.
| Market | Symbols you will often see | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | XAUUSD | XAU is the code for gold, priced here in US dollars |
| Silver | XAGUSD | XAG is the code for silver |
| US crude oil | USOIL, WTI, XTIUSD | All three track WTI, the US crude benchmark |
| Brent crude oil | UKOIL, BRENT, XBRUSD | A different oil benchmark with its own price |
| Nasdaq 100 | NDX, NAS100, US100, USTEC | NDX is the index itself; the others are broker contract names |
If a search for one code returns nothing, type the plain market name ("gold", "oil") into the symbol search instead.
Stock tickers and futures codes are symbols too. A futures symbol also carries an expiry month and year, so the code changes when one contract expires and the next one takes over.
How picking the wrong symbol changes your risk
The figures here are an illustrative example. Suppose your broker lists EURUSD, where 1 lot is 100,000 units, and EURUSD.m, where 1 lot is 1,000 units. A lot is the unit you size orders in, and the contract size is how many units of the base currency one lot holds. A pip is the small price step the pair moves in, 0.0001 on EURUSD. Because the quote currency is the US dollar, you can reuse one formula on any such pair: pip value per lot = contract size × pip size.
You want to risk $100 with a 20-pip stop. The steps below show the lot size on the standard symbol, and what the same order risks on each.
On EURUSD.m your trade is 100 times smaller than planned, so a winning trade earns almost nothing.
The reverse mistake is the costly one. Size the order for EURUSD.m and you get $100 ÷ (20 × $0.10) = 50 lots; the chart below shows what 50 lots risk on EURUSD.
If the lot size looks 100 times bigger or smaller than usual, stop and check the symbol.
Where the symbol appears on your trading platform
Two places matter before you send an order:
- The order window. The symbol field decides which market the order goes to, and it does not always match the chart you are looking at. Read the full code, suffix included, before you confirm.
- The specification panel. It lists the contract size, minimum lot, trading hours and costs for that exact code.
Checks to run before you trade a symbol
- If two symbols cover the same market, compare contract size, spread and commission, then trade only the one your account type is meant to use.
- Recalculate pip value whenever you switch symbols. Gold, oil and indices have their own contract sizes and price steps, so the forex shortcut of 100,000 × 0.0001 does not apply.
- Check the symbol's trading hours. Metals, oil and indices usually have longer daily breaks than major currency pairs.
- If an automated strategy or indicator has a symbol name typed into its settings, make sure it matches your broker's spelling exactly. "EURUSD" and "EURUSD.m" count as different markets.
FAQ
Why can't I find a symbol my broker says it offers?
It may be hidden. Platforms often show only part of the broker's full list until you add more from the complete symbol list. The market may also be offered only on another account type, so it never appears in the list for the account you are logged into.
Why does the same symbol show a different price on two platforms?
Each broker and data provider builds its own quote from its own price sources. A symbol may also point to a different product, such as a spot contract on one platform and a futures contract on the other. Place stops and targets from the prices of the broker that holds your trade.
Why is a symbol greyed out or rejecting my orders?
If the market is open (the specification also lists trading hours), look at the trade mode line in the symbol's specification. It shows whether the symbol allows full trading, closing existing positions only, or no trading at all. A close-only symbol lets you exit a position you already hold but rejects every new order. A view-only symbol streams prices and charts, but your account type cannot trade it at all.