Gold Profit & Loss Calculator

How the formula works

Profit or loss on a gold trade is the price move in your favour multiplied by the number of ounces you control. For a buy, the favourable move is exit minus entry; for a sell it is entry minus exit. Multiply that move by your lots and by the contract size (100 oz per standard lot) to get the dollar result.

Notional value is the full contract value — the current price times lots times contract size. Dividing your P/L by the notional gives the raw return on the position, which is useful for comparing trades of different sizes on a like-for-like basis.

Worked example

Buying 0.10 lots of gold at $2,650 and closing at $2,680 is a $30 favourable move. The profit is $30 × 0.10 × 100 = $300. The notional value at entry is $2,650 × 0.10 × 100 = $26,500, so the return on notional is about 1.13%. A short from $2,680 back down to $2,650 would produce the same $300 profit.

Common mistakes

Make sure the direction matches the trade: an exit above entry is a profit for a buy but a loss for a sell. Do not read the return on notional as a return on your margin — because gold is leveraged, the percentage move on your deposited margin is far larger. Use the margin calculator to see how little capital controls that notional.