Is a tick the same as a pip on gold?

On a two-decimal XAUUSD feed they are the same 0.01 move. On a three-decimal feed a pip is 0.01 and a tick is 0.001, so one pip equals ten ticks.

What is one tick worth on gold?

On the standard 100-ounce contract with two-decimal pricing, one 0.01 tick is worth about $1.00 per lot, $0.10 on 0.10 lot and $0.01 on 0.01 lot.

Why does my tick value change during the session?

On XAUUSD the quote currency is the dollar so tick value is stable. On XAUEUR, XAUGBP, XAUAUD or XAUJPY the tick value converts through the quote currency and moves with that exchange rate.

Does a smaller tick size mean lower trading costs?

No. Costs come from the spread and commission, not from quote precision. A three-decimal feed can quote a tighter spread but that must be compared in dollars of gold price, not in ticks.

WHAT IS A TICK ON GOLD?

A tick on gold is the smallest price change a broker will quote on the symbol. On the majority of retail XAUUSD feeds the tick size is 0.01 of the gold price, and because one standard contract is 100 troy ounces the value of that tick is approximately one US dollar per lot, ten cents on a tenth of a lot and one cent on a hundredth of a lot.

Tick size and tick value are both broker-set fields inside the MetaTrader 5 symbol specification, alongside contract size and quote digits. Traders who read them once and then size from the dollar value of the intended stop distance avoid the most common gold sizing error, which is carrying an FX pip habit onto a metal whose daily range is routinely fifteen to thirty dollars.