Best Gold Trading Brokers 2020

Gold is highly tradable. Commonly seen as a great store of wealth, this precious metal is also known as a reliable safe-haven asset. Uncertainty in the market, especially from geopolitical and economic drivers, pushes people into investing in metals like gold. 

Since the recession of 2008, many people have flocked to gold, to protect themselves against market volatility. But, the problem with gold is that actually owning it takes a lot of space. Gold is bulky. So now, more and more people are trading it as a CFD. That means speculating on its price movement, rather than owning the underlying asset. Many brokers offer it on their platforms and it is almost always found on the MetaTrader 4 platform.

The brokers below represent the best brokers for gold trading.

Here’s a list of the Best Brokers for Gold Trading:

• XTB
• Pepperstone
• Plus500
• FXTM
• FP Markets
• NBH Markets
• eToro
• Tickmill
• OctaFX
• Gold Trading Explained

Note: Not all Forex brokers accept US clients. For your convenience we specified those that accept US Forex traders as clients

XTB

XTB is an award-winning CFD platform that supports Forex, indices, commodities, stock CFDs, ETF CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. For Forex, XTB supports 48 currency pairs with low-cost spreads. Customers of XTB can choose between trading on the xStation 5 or MT4 platforms. For leverage accounts, this brokerage offers leverage of up to 200:1.

Stock and ETF CFDs all attract a fixed commission of 0.08% per lot across the two types of accounts.

XTB was founded in 2002 with headqיuarters in Warsaw. It is regulated in markets across Europe by the IFSC, FCA, KNF, and CySec. XTB has a free demo account and a Trading Academy set of courses for beginner and intermediate traders.

Pepperstone

Pepperstone was founded in 2010 in Melbourne, Australia and has offices in 70 Gracechurch Street, London, EC3V 0HR. Pepperstone is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), as well as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). According to the broker’s website, they process an average of $12.55 billion trades every day with over 73,000 traders around the world.

*Pepperstone has a beginner educational content in its YouTube channel. In addition, a new educational content section is expected to be ready on Pepperstone’s website.

Plus500

Plus500 is a leading CFD trading platform with support for stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, and Forex. This commission-free brokerage charges very low spread-rates and offers fast trades on a great platform. Plus500 supports complex trades, includes negative balance protection, and makes trading an educational and hopefully profitable venture.

You can start with a free demo account to test the platform and any trading strategy. Real money accounts offer leverage of up to 300:1. This broker is based in Israel and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. 

FXTM

FXTM, short for ForexTime, is a platform with a primary focus on foreign exchange. That specialization allows it to rise above many others when it comes to Forex focused trading platforms and tools. CFDs are available on 50+ currency pairs including major, minor, and exotic pairs. Leverage is available up to 1000:1.

Spreads are competitive across all platforms with 24-hour trading open 5 days per week. FXTM is based in Cyprus and licensed by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulators in and out of the EU. A free demo account is available. 

FP Markets

This brokerage offers a massive range of tradable assets through Forex, CFD, and share trading accounts. FP Markets supports the MT4, MT5, and IRESS platforms and offers leverage up to 500:1. You can trade 45 currency pairs with competitive spread or commission pricing.

FP Markets was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia. It is regulated by the ASIC in Australia. Demo accounts are available. While it is suitable for beginners, education resources are limited. 

NBH Markets

BHM has solid roots in gold trading and investment and is the only brokerage firm with gold-backed stability offered by the National Bullion House.

The broker offers leverage up to 1:500 across a range of different asset classes including Forex, CFDs, Cash Indices, Precious Metals and Commodities. Clients can choose from three account types called Standard, Pro and Elite which can be funded with USD currency.

The account types offer a range of commission-free and fee-based trading using the MetaTrader 4 and the MetaTrader5 trading platforms.

eToro

Known as one of the pioneers for social trading, eToro was established in 2007 to make financial markets more accessible to the average retail trader. The broker helped lead the way in social trading, when it introduced the revolutionary “OpenBook” trading platform to the online trading industry. The broker has also been a forerunner in the introduction of innovative financial instruments such as ‘Copy Funds”. Likewise, eToro has not been slow in offering its clients a range of cryptocurrency assets to trade with. Regulated by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC), eToro’s traders can rest assured that their funds deposited with this broker will remain safe.

Tickmill

Tickmill offers various deposit options, all of which are based on fiat currency. Cryptocurrency-based deposits are not supported.

Tickmill’s business model is that of an NDD broker – that means a Non-Dealing Desk broker. Rather than taking on the other side of the trades themselves they pass them on to third party liquidity providers, who provide the liquidity and take the exposure. This means that Tickmill never has a conflict of interest with their clients.

OctaFX

OctaFX was founded in 2011 and offers Forex ECN trading, as well as CFD trading on Indices, Metals and Cryptocurrencies, across the MetaTrader and cTrader suite of trading platforms for Windows Desktop, Web (Windows and Mac) and Mobile (Android and iOS), as well as their own OctaFX Trading App.

The tradable products available from OctaFX vary depending on the type of account opened (MT4 Micro, MT4 Pro, cTrader ECN) but covers Forex, Indices, Metals and Cryptocurrencies.

Gold Trading Explained

• How to Choose a Gold Broker
• Regulation
• Gold Trading Platforms
• Gold Automated Trading Software
• Gold Trading Account Types
• Commissions and Spreads
• Conclusion

Gold is a spot metal that is traded on commodity exchanges as well as on forex platforms as a CFD asset. Gold is classified as a hard commodity, which is extracted from the ground. Gold is a tradable asset which is traded on contracts. Available contracts for gold trading include:

• Spot contracts
• Forwards
• Futures
• Options
• NDFs

The primary market for gold trading is the futures market, located in the US and London. The gold futures market is traded round the clock, except for a one-hour break within each trading day when the open outcry markets shut down and the CBOT markets kick in.Most of gold trading done in today’s market features the spot contracts (immediate settlement) and the futures contracts (settled in the future after 1 – 3 months).

Generally speaking, gold is traded mostly as spot contracts or futures contracts. It is possible to conduct spot and futures contract trading on gold on the primary futures market: CME, COMEX, CBOT and NYMEX. The margin requirements for these trades on the exchanges are very high and are mostly out of the reach of retail traders.

Retail traders are able to access gold trading via the forex platforms, which list the gold asset as a pairing against the USD or Euro. In this form, gold is traded as a contract-for-difference instrument, which does not involve physical exchange of the asset.Gold prices are mainly impacted by the state of the financial markets. Gold is used as a safe haven for capital preservation when there is uncertainty in other markets.How to Choose a Gold BrokerThe predominant factors which you must consider in choosing a gold broker are:

• Regulation
• Trading platform type
• Software

RegulationCertain regulations guide the trading of gold. For instance, the trading of gold is regulated by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC sets regulations on how retail participation in gold trading can be carried out, and sets out mandates for brokers on enforcement of same. For instance, brokers are mandated to offer gold futures and options contracts at a leverage not exceeding 1:20.

This rule effectively locked out many traders from the platforms of US brokers.We see more of retail gold CFD trading on the platforms of ASIC-regulated, CySEC-regulated, and FCA-regulated brokers. The contract specifications will differ from one region to another. Ensure you are able to select a broker that makes it affordable for you to trade gold.

Gold Trading PlatformsThe platforms that are offered for gold trading are also important. Many market makers offer the MT4 platform and list gold as a pairing against the USD (XAU/USD) on these platforms. You will also see gold listed on brokerages that offer the ActTrader and JForex platforms, as well as the cTrader and the various mobile apps.

Prior to 2015, users of Currenex were unable to trade gold as a listed asset as this professional trading platform was solely dedicated to the trading of currency assets.

However, gold trading was introduced into Currenex on January 19, 2015 as a pairing of both gold/USD and gold/EUR.Gold Automated Trading SoftwareGold can be traded with EAs. The platforms on which gold CFDs can be traded have been identified. EAs can be programmed for them using the various programming languages. Professional traders who trade with advanced platforms such as Currenex, LMAX and cTrader, have to opt for algorithmic trading software which is offered as part of the general package provided to traders.

Gold Trading Account TypesGold can be traded in both directions: upwards or downwards. Some brokers know the inherent risks involved in trading of gold, and that is why they have come up with various strata of accounts to cater for different categories of traders. Although each broker will present their own variety of trading accounts, there is a broad classification of gold trading account types into three:

• Micro account: This is the beginner level account which caters to those that are very new in the market. Contract sizes are usually restricted to not more than 10 troy ounces. This account is reserved for traders who can only come up with less than $1000 in account capital.
• Gold accounts: These are the intermediate level accounts, and are usually reserved for traders who can afford between $1,000 and $9,999.
• VIP/Platinum accounts: these are the accounts meant for those retail traders with lots of cash to spare. The contract specifications are arranged in such a manner that these traders can trade larger contract sizes (usually measured in troy ounces). Account capital requirements that start with as high as $25,000 are the norm here.

Commissions and SpreadsGold trading on forex platforms is usually commission-free. However, gold is marked out from other assets as having the largest spreads of any asset on the forex platforms. Some platforms offer gold with spreads of up to 80 pips. This, combined with the margin requirements, make gold more expensive to trade than the regular currency pairs.Traders who want to trade gold have to be prepared financially for it. The range of price movements can be very high. Price movement between the high and low prices on November 9, 2016 was as high as $68.50, equating to 6,850 pips. This sort of volatility is not what a trader should toy with.ConclusionWe have a list of gold trading brokers for you. How did we come up with this list of brokers?

• We selected brokers that are regulated.
• We also selected brokers that offer several account types, knowing that no two traders are the same and therefore a “one account fits all” model will not work for all traders.
• We chose brokers that had an allowance for traders with less than $500 to come on board, to get a feel of the live market with reduced trade sizes.
• We looked at platform accessibility and trading conditions.

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