Margin Calculator
Find out how much margin a trade requires — for gold or any forex pair — and see exactly how leverage changes it.
Tip: for gold use contract size 100 (oz/lot). For forex majors use 100000 (units/lot).
What is margin?
Margin is the amount of money your broker requires you to set aside to open a leveraged position. It is not a fee — it is a good-faith deposit that is locked while the trade is open and released when you close it. Because forex and gold are traded with leverage, you only need a fraction of the position's full value as margin. The exact fraction is set by your leverage: at 100:1 leverage, you need just 1% of the position's value; at 500:1, only 0.2%.
How required margin is calculated
The formula is straightforward:
Required margin = (Lot size × Contract size × Price) ÷ Leverage
The first part — lot size × contract size × price — is the notional value, the full size of the position you control. Dividing by your leverage gives the actual cash you must put up. For example, one micro lot of gold (0.01 × 100 oz) at $2,400 is a $2,400 notional position; at 100:1 leverage, you only need $24 of margin to open it.
Margin and leverage: handle with care
Leverage is a double-edged sword. High leverage means small margin, which frees up capital — but it also means a small adverse move can wipe out that margin fast, triggering a margin call or automatic liquidation. The mistake beginners make is treating low margin requirements as permission to trade large. Don't. Your position size should always be governed by your risk per trade, not by how little margin the broker demands. Use our position size calculator to size trades by risk, and this tool only to confirm you have enough free margin.