Trading
Spreads and margins
We offer competitive spreads on 70 major and minor forex pairs.
See our margin table for margin rates and leverage ratios on all our currency pairs.
Margin requirement will depend on the amount of leverage allowed. The maximum leverage allowed is determined by the regulators and may differ depending upon the instrument.
Events impacting spreads
At certain times and in certain market conditions, our spreads could be wider than usual. This includes:
- Opening and closing of markets.
- Major international or geopolitical events which have an impact on the relevant market(s) in other particular circumstances.
Be on top of the latest market events with our MarketPulse analysis.
Margin
To ensure you can cover any losses you might incur on your positions, we require sufficient collateral. This collateral is typically referred to as margin.
We are governed by the National Futures Association (NFA) and establish margin rates and maximum leverage at our discretion.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) limits leverage available to retail forex traders in the United States to 50:1 on major currency pairs and 20:1 for all others. For more information, refer to our regulatory and financial compliance section.
When you trade on margin, you can leverage the funds in your account to potentially generate large profits relative to the amount invested. The downside of margin trading is that you can just as quickly incur potentially significant losses if the markets move against you.
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Frequently asked questions
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How do market events and weekends impact margin?
Rate volatility and changes in global market liquidity can result in large spread increases around market openings and closings, following news announcements, and during times of uncertainty. At such times, we widen our spreads to reflect market conditions.
If you leave trades open during the weekend or halted markets, you cannot close them until the markets reopen. Note that rates may change significantly or "gap" when trading resumes. If rates move against you, a margin closeout may be triggered when trading resumes.
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What is a margin call and margin closeout?
Margin calls are an important aspect of leveraged trading. If the balance in your account falls to a level that is below the minimum regulatory margin requirement, a margin call will get triggered. If this happens, we could ask you to deposit more funds into your account to increase your account balance or close open positions to return your margin closeout value to greater than your regulatory margin used.
If your margin closeout value is less than your regulatory margin used, you will receive a margin call alert by email. Margin call alert emails are sent at 3:45 p.m. (EDT) daily. Margin call emails will only be sent out if your account falls below the regulatory value.
You can avoid margin closeouts by reducing the amount of margin you are using. This can be done by closing some trades or by adding more funds to your trading account. Find out more about our margin closeout rules.
Note: In a fast moving market, there may be little time between warnings, or there may not be sufficient time to warn you at all. Be mindful of the “margin closeout percent” field in the account summary of the fxTrade user interface. The closer the margin closeout percent is to 100%, the closer you are to a margin closeout.
Transparent pricing models
We offer 2 clear pricing models: core pricing plus commission or spreads-only pricing.
Calculating profit and loss
See how you can calculate profit and loss on your trades when you take a position with us.
Trade forex with OANDA
We are a globally-recognized broker with over 25 years' experience in foreign exchange trading.