⚠️ Risk warning: CFDs and leveraged forex are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money rapidly. Most retail accounts lose money. This content is education only, not investment advice or a recommendation.
Gold, oil and stock indices are among the most traded instruments in the Gulf after currencies. Each has its own drivers, its own trading hours and its own contract size, so the same lot size can mean very different risk.
Gold (XAU/USD)
Gold is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce. Common drivers:
- The US dollar. Because gold is priced in dollars, a weaker dollar has often gone with a higher gold price, though not every day.
- Real interest rates. Gold pays no interest, so when inflation-adjusted yields rise, holding gold becomes less attractive, and the other way round.
- Fear and central bank buying. Gold is a traditional safe haven, and central bank purchases add demand.
At many brokers one standard lot of gold is 100 ounces, so a $1 move is $100 per lot. Check your broker’s contract specification, because sizes differ. Live prices are on the Invvex gold page.
Oil (Brent and WTI)
Brent is the main global benchmark; WTI is the US benchmark. Both are quoted in dollars per barrel. Prices react to:
- Supply: OPEC+ production decisions, outages and geopolitical events.
- Inventories: the weekly US crude stocks report, normally on Wednesday at 10:30 New York time.
- Demand: global growth, especially in the US and China.
Most oil CFDs follow a futures contract. When the broker moves to the next contract (the rollover), the chart can show a jump and your position may be adjusted in cash, so check the rollover dates. Oil can move sharply on headlines, so stops need room. See Brent and WTI.
Stock indices
An index tracks a basket of shares: the S&P 500 (often called US500), the Dow Jones (US30), the Nasdaq 100 (US100 or NAS100) and Germany’s DAX (GER40). They react to company earnings, interest-rate expectations and the general risk mood.
Indices are busiest during the cash session of their home exchange. The US session runs 9:30 to 16:00 New York time, which is 17:30 to 00:00 in Dubai in the US summer and 18:30 to 01:00 in the US winter. Outside those hours, index CFDs often trade with wider spreads. Index CFDs can also carry dividend adjustments when the shares in the index go ex-dividend. See the S&P 500 and DAX.
Size by risk, not by lots
Because each instrument moves differently, never use the same lot size everywhere. Work back from the stop, as in risk management and position sizing.
Account $10,000, risk 1% = $100. Your gold stop is $5 away. With 100 ounces per lot, one lot loses 100 × $5 = $500 at the stop. Position size = $100 ÷ $500 = 0.20 lot.
On EUR/USD with a 20-pip stop ($10 per pip per lot), the same $100 allows 0.50 lot. Same risk, different size.
Markets close at the weekend and can open on Monday at a different price (a gap), which can skip past a stop.
🛠️ Practice task
Use your broker’s specification pages and real charts. This is for practice, not for placing a trade.
- Find the contract size for gold, Brent or WTI, and the S&P 500 in your broker’s specifications (or MT5: right-click the symbol, then Specification).
- For each one, write how much one lot gains or loses for a 1-point move.
- Open the gold chart and the Brent chart on H4 and note a typical candle range for each.
- Using a 1% risk on an imaginary $10,000 account, calculate the position size for a stop of one typical H4 range on each.
- Check the next oil rollover date with your broker and the next OPEC+ meeting date, and add both to your calendar.
✍️ Quick quiz
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