Point value
Point value is a cash amount per one-unit price move. The MetaTrader symbol property called the point is something else, even though the MQL5 Reference describes it as "Symbol point value": it is the price step the platform counts distances in, usually the last displayed decimal (0.01 on a quote shown to 2 decimals). MetaTrader's cash figure per tick size (the minimum price change) is the tick value in the symbol specification, which equals the cash per point only where the tick size equals the point. This page covers the cash value per one-unit move; the forex counterpart is covered under pip.
Point value is the cash amount that a one-point price move adds to or takes from a position of a given size.
It does for index, oil and crypto quotes what pip value does for currency pairs. MetaTrader 5 calculates CFD profit as (close price − open price) × contract size × lots, so one point is worth the contract size times the lots held. The broker sets a CFD's contract size; an exchange future's multiplier is fixed by the exchange.
This page covers the mechanic; it is not trading advice.
What one point is worth, and which "point" is meant
The Pip has a fixed cash value on USD-quoted pairs: $10 per pip per standard lot. Index, oil and crypto quotes have no such universal unit, so a move has a cash value only once the contract size is known, and on a CFD the broker sets it.
The word point carries three meanings. An index point is 1.00 of the index level: the Nasdaq-100 (NAS100 in the CFD examples below) moving from 29,187.55 to 29,188.55 has moved one point. A platform point is the price step MetaTrader counts distances in, the symbol's point size, usually the last displayed decimal: 0.01 on a 2-decimal NAS100 quote. An exchange tick is a future's minimum move, 0.25 index point on the CME E-mini Nasdaq-100.
One error reads a platform's points as index points. On a 2-decimal NAS100 quote, a stop 100 points away sits 1.00 index point from entry, not 100. A second error gives a CFD the futures multiplier: CME's $20 per point binds the E-mini Nasdaq-100 future only, and a CFD's value per point comes from the broker's contract size.
Crypto CFDs follow the same arithmetic per dollar: at an assumed contract of 1 BTC per lot, a $1 move in BTC/USD is worth $1 per lot. Leverage plays no part in point value. It changes the margin held, and therefore how far price can move before the broker's stop-out closes the position.
Point value worked on NAS100 and WTI
The example assumes a Contract size of 1, one index unit per lot, so on a USD-quoted NAS100 CFD one index point is worth $1 per lot; the broker sets this input.
NAS100 CFD, 2 lots long
Profit or loss = (exit price − entry price) × value per point per lot × lots- Entry price
- 29,187.55
- Exit price
- 29,312.80
- Value per point per lot (assumed)
- $1
- Position
- 2 lots
Profit before costs
$250.50
The Lot size scales the result linearly: 2 lots move $1 × 2 = $2.00 per index point, so 125.25 points × $2.00 = $250.50.
The same move on a CFD and on CME futures
Two lots of the assumed CFD match one Micro contract point for point. CME fixes the futures figures; the CFD row holds only where the broker's terms set $1 per point.
WTI: dollars per barrel, not index points
The example uses 101.91, an EIA Cushing spot price for WTI, as an illustrative input; a broker's WTI CFD quotes off its own reference price.
WTI CFD, 0.50 lot long
Profit or loss = (exit price − entry price) × barrels per lot × lots- Entry price
- $101.91 per barrel
- Exit price
- $100.47 per barrel
- Barrels per lot (assumed)
- 100
- Position
- 0.50 lot (50 barrels)
Loss before costs
−$72.00
At 100 barrels per lot, one lot moves $100.00 per $1.00 and $1.00 per $0.01. CME's WTI future (CL) covers 1,000 barrels: its $0.01 tick is worth $10.00, and the same $1.44 fall is −$1,440.00 per contract.
Related terms
Related articles
Common questions
Is point value the same as pip value?
They measure the same thing on different instruments. Pip value is the cash value of a one-pip move on a currency pair, $10 per standard lot on USD-quoted pairs such as EUR/USD. Point value has no universal figure: on a Nasdaq-100 CFD at 29,187.55 it follows the contract size the broker sets, for example $1 per point per lot.
Why does the platform show 100 points when the index moved 1 point?
MetaTrader counts distances in the symbol's point size, a price step, not in index points. On a Nasdaq-100 CFD quoted to 2 decimals, such as 29,187.55, the point size is usually 0.01. A 1.00 index-point move then shows as 100 points, and a 125.25-point move as 12,525. The Digits figure in the symbol specification sets the point size: 2 digits means 0.01.
Does leverage change point value?
No. Leverage changes the margin held, and therefore how far price can move before the broker's stop-out closes the position. The cash value per point stays fixed: 2 lots of a Nasdaq-100 CFD at 29,187.55, at an assumed $1 per point per lot, move $2.00 per index point at 1:100 and at 1:500.
How is point value converted when the account is in euros?
Point value is calculated in the symbol's profit currency, usually US dollars for a Nasdaq-100 CFD (the symbol specification shows it), and converted into the account currency at the broker's rate. At an assumed $1 per index point per lot and EUR/USD at 1.1253, one point is worth $1 ÷ 1.1253 = about €0.89 per lot, and a $250.50 profit on 2 lots from 29,187.55 to 29,312.80 becomes €222.61.