Precious metals market quotes usually cover both gold and silver. When viewing precious metals quotes as a Lucky Gold user, please note that although both instruments appear in the same quote list, London Gold and London Silver differ in contract size, quote precision and price movement characteristics.
1. Do Not Compare Gold and Silver Merely by Raw Price Figures
On August 18, the front-month gold contract settled at USD 4366 per ounce during the New York session, while silver settled at USD 63.941 per ounce. Gold fell by approximately 1.2% that day, and silver dropped around 3.3%.
Numerically, there is a huge gap between the two prices.
Nevertheless, you cannot simply assume that the price fluctuation per lot for gold is always larger just because gold commands a higher per-ounce price.
Contract specifications must also be taken into consideration.
2. Contract Size per Standard Lot for London Gold and London Silver on Lucky Gold
One standard lot of London Gold at Lucky Gold equals 100 ounces. One standard lot of London Silver equals 5,000 ounces.
That is a 50-fold difference.
Therefore, although both are named “1 lot”, they represent vastly different quantities of precious metals. This detail is most commonly overlooked when reading precious metals quotes.
3. Minimum Price Fluctuation Also Differs
The minimum price increment for London Gold on Lucky Gold is USD 0.01. For London Silver, the minimum price increment is USD 0.001.
Calculated based on one standard lot: A USD 0.01 move in London Gold equals approximately USD 1. A USD 0.001 move in London Silver equals approximately USD 5.
Do not directly apply gold’s point-value calculation formula to silver quotes.
4. Base Spreads for Gold and Silver Are Different
Lucky Gold sets the base spread of London Gold at 15 US dollars per lot. The base spread of London Silver is 60 US dollars per lot.
If you track both instruments, calculate costs separately according to your trading lot size. For example, 0.01 lot of London Gold is roughly USD 0.15 under base parameters, while 0.01 lot of London Silver is around USD 0.60.
5. Why Gold and Silver Have Different Percentage Gains or Losses on the Same Trading Day
Gold and silver are both precious metals, yet their market demand structures are not identical.
Thus, they may rise or fall together on the same trading day, or move by noticeably different magnitudes.
August 18 serves as a real example: both gold and silver declined, but silver’s percentage loss was substantially larger than gold’s.
When analysing precious metals quotes, evaluate the price and percentage change for each instrument individually, instead of judging silver purely based on gold’s performance.
6. How to Compare Precious Metals Quotes Side by Side
Focus on these key metrics:
· Real-time price
· Daily percentage change
· High and low prices
· Contract size
· Minimum price increment
Both London Gold and London Silver on Lucky Gold support a minimum trade size of 0.01 lot. However, given their differing per-lot quantities, price swings must be calculated separately even when trading the same lot number.
The Core Principle for Reading Precious Metals Quotes: Distinguish Instruments First
Use gold’s contract specifications when analysing gold. Use silver’s contract specifications when analysing silver.
Do not calculate all figures with the same formula merely because both instruments are traded in lots.