Are gold (XAU/USD) CFD spreads low at eToro?

If you want to add gold CFDs (contract for difference) to your portfolio, it's a smart idea to check spread costs at your broker – it's a crucial part of your bottom line.

Gold Spot/US Dollar (XAU/USD) CFD spreads are high at eToro. If you want lower rates, we can show you brokers that offer more competitive costs.

eToro is an expensive option for trading gold CFDs

eToro is an expensive option for trading gold CFDs

Adam Nasli

Trading • Safety • Market Analysis

I bring extensive financial expertise as one of BrokerChooser's earliest team members. Personally, I tested nearly all 100+ brokers on our site, opening real-money accounts, executing trades, assessing customer services, and providing firsthand assessment. My professional background includes roles in the banking sector and a degree from Central European University, where I teach finance. My passions lies in in-depth research of the financial industry, building trading algorithms, and managing long-term investments.

Learn about our methodology

Adam Nasli

Trading • Safety • Market Analysis

We tested eToro's services with our own money. After looking closely at their platform and prices, here's what we think you need to know about trading gold on their platform:

• The XAU/USD CFD spread is 0.68 at eToro, vs. the market average of 0.25.
• Check financing rates (the cost of keeping your position overnight) to get the full picture.
• Find cheaper alternatives in this list of the lowest gold CFD spread brokers in the world.

When trading gold CFDs, the spread will be your most important cost item (in most cases anyway; more on this later). Every time you trade gold (XAU/USD) CFDs, you'll have to pay this spread cost; so it makes sense to find the brokers that offer the tightest spreads for gold trading.

At eToro, the XAU/USD spread is 0.68. Among the 100+ brokers we cover, the lowest XAU/USD spread is 0.02, while the highest is 1; and the average spread comes to 0.25.

Want to see where the market is headed? You can check the current price of spot gold in the chart below.

There are two more things you should consider. First, the bigger your gold trade (that is, the larger your position), the wider the spread gets. This is especially true when the market's not super active. Which brings us to our second point: spreads tend to get higher when trading's quiet, typically outside peak market hours.

Are you new to CFD trading or looking to broaden your knowledge? Check out this detailed tutorial put together by our CFD trading experts.

Want to hold your leveraged gold CFD position overnight? Remember you're trading on borrowed money – so just like with a credit card, there's a daily interest fee called the financing rate (or swap rate).

Unless you trade intraday, you'll likely end up paying a swap rate on your trade. And of course the longer you keep your position open, the heftier this fee will get.

Here's a quick example: let's say you buy 1 lot of XAU/USD at $2,000 per ounce. Calculating with a typical 20:1 margin and a 5.5% annual financing rate, you'd need to pay almost $30 each day you hold the position.

Additionally, watch out for commissions. Most gold CFD brokers skip commissions, but it's worth checking the fee structure – a few brokers do charge per trade.

Finally, there will be fees that are not directly related to your XAU/USD trade, also known as non-trading fees. Think deposit/withdrawal costs, account maintenances charges, the inactivity fee and other conditions like minimum deposit requirements.

All this key info (and more) on eToro is packed into the table below.

Brokerage fees and service highlights at eToro

Ready to trade gold smarter? We've tracked down brokers offering ultra-competitive XAU/USD spreads without compromising on reliability or service quality.

Head over to our curated list of the lowest gold CFD spread brokers and start paying less for your trades.

Risk disclaimer

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Disclaimer: 51% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

This communication is intended for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or investment recommendation. Past performance is not an indication of future results.

Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

eToro USA LCC does not offer CFDs, only real Crypto assets available.

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eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.

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