Gold moved fifty cents. How many dollars changed hands in your contract?
Put three quotes side by side and a fifty-cent rise looks identical. A holder of one standard gold contract gains fifty dollars before costs. A holder of the one-ounce contract gains fifty cents. The missing field on the screen is the number of ounces behind the price.
- GC represents 100 troy ounces, MGC ten, and 1OZ one.
- A fifty-cent move crosses five outright ticks in GC and MGC and two in 1OZ.
- Keep the side, filled quantity and fees in the reconciliation.
Two units belong on every ticket
CME Group specifies an outright tick of $0.10 per ounce for standard Gold futures, symbol GC. The 100-ounce multiplier makes that tick worth $10 per contract. Micro Gold futures, MGC, quote in the same ten-cent increment. With ten ounces behind each contract, the tick is worth $1. The smallest of the three, 1OZ, represents one ounce and trades in quarter-dollar increments. One tick there is worth $0.25.
I write the quoted increment beside the multiplier. Multiplying dollars per ounce by ounces per contract leaves dollars per contract. That unit check catches a common mistake when a spreadsheet moves between products.
Source notes: [1] CME Group · Side-by-side comparison of gold futures · [2] CME Group · 1-Ounce Gold futures FAQ
Reconcile the same price change three ways
Suppose each outright can be bought at $4,000.00 and sold at $4,000.50. These prices are invented for arithmetic. One GC gains five ticks times $10, or $50. One MGC gains five times $1, or $5. One 1OZ gains two times $0.25, or $0.50. Reversing the side reverses each sign. Commission and other charges still have to be deducted.
Quantity matters just as much as the symbol. Four MGC contracts would produce a gross $20 change in this example. Four one-ounce contracts would produce $2. A count of four positions in a journal tells another reader very little until the product and quantity fields are visible.
Check an order before comparing the results
A proposed entry of $4,000.10 sits on the outright price grid for GC and MGC. It falls between the permitted quarter-dollar prices on 1OZ. Record the actual execution price from the broker before calculating a result. Rounding a planned order in a backtest can silently move the entry toward a more favourable price.
For a partial fill, calculate each filled lot from its own price, then sum the dollar outcomes. Finally compare the gross price change with the broker’s net figure after costs. This simple reconciliation is also a way to spot a missing multiplier, a short position accidentally entered as long, or a planned quantity copied into the executed column.
Source notes: [1] CME Group · Side-by-side comparison of gold futures
Sources, dates & evidence limits
Sources checked 3 November 2026 at 04:14:17 UTC / 3 November 2026 at 08:14:17 Dubai. Source observation and release dates are separate from this article’s publication date. Linked data may later be revised.
- CME Group · Side-by-side comparison of gold futures ↗Reference checked 3 November 2026, Asia/Dubai. Publication hour unavailable.
Exchange comparison of contract sizes and outright price increments.
- CME Group · 1-Ounce Gold futures FAQ ↗Reference checked 3 November 2026, Asia/Dubai. Publication hour unavailable.
The minimum trading increment is quoted per troy ounce.
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