What 1 pip is on NZDUSD
NZD/USD is quoted in US dollars, so 100,000 New Zealand dollars moving 0.0001 is worth $10 per lot, whatever the price.
At about 0.59 it is the lowest-priced of the major pairs: one lot is roughly $59,000 of notional, so it needs the least margin per lot of the seven, for the same $10 per pip. MetaTrader shows 5 digits; 1 pip = 10 points.
NZDUSD pip value per lot
Value of one pip (0.0001 in price): 0.0001 × 100,000 = $10 per 1.00 lot.
| Position | 1 pip | 18 pips (0.0018) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00 lot | $10.00 | $180.00 |
| 0.10 lot | $1.00 | $18.00 |
| 0.01 lot | $0.10 | $1.80 |
Worked example: 1% of $10,000
- Risk: 1% × $10,000 = $100.00.
- Stop: 18 pips = 0.0018 in price.
- Value of 1 pip per 1.00 lot: $10.00.
- Lot size = $100.00 ÷ (18 × $10.00) = 0.5556, rounded down to the 0.01 step: 0.55 lots.
Odd stop sizes rarely give round lot sizes. The rounding is always down, so the real risk ends slightly under the target.
Contract size and tick value in MT5
In MetaTrader 5, right-click NZDUSD in Market Watch and choose Specification: it shows Contract size, Digits, Profit currency and the volume limits. Tick size and tick value are what MQL5 reads with SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE and SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE; the script below prints them for your account.
| Contract size | 100,000 NZD |
|---|---|
| Digits | 5 (e.g. 1.16253) at most brokers |
| Tick size (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE) | 0.00001 |
| 1 pip | 0.0001 = 10 ticks (10 MT5 points) |
| Profit currency | USD |
| Tick value, 1.00 lot (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE) | $1.00 in a USD account |
| Volume step | Shown in Specification; 0.01 at most retail brokers |
MQL5: lot size from a money risk
A script that sends no order: it reads the contract size, tick size, tick value and volume limits your broker sets for NZDUSD, then prints the lot size that risks 1% of the balance at the stop. The stop is a price distance (0.0018), so the result is the same on 2-, 3- or 5-digit quotes. Save it as MQL5/Scripts/LotSize_NZDUSD.mq5 and compile it in MetaEditor (F7): 0 errors, 0 warnings.
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| LotSize_NZDUSD.mq5 |
//| Lot size that risks a % of the balance at a given stop distance|
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property script_show_inputs
input string InpSymbol = "NZDUSD"; // Symbol, exactly as in Market Watch
input double InpRiskPercent = 1.0; // Risk per trade, % of balance
input double InpStopDistance = 0.0018; // Stop-loss distance in price (0.0018 = 18 pips)
// Lots that lose about riskMoney at the stop, rounded down to the volume step.
// Returns 0 when even the minimum volume would risk more than riskMoney.
double LotsForRisk(const string symbol, const double riskMoney, const double stopDistance)
{
double tickSize = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE);
double tickValue = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE); // 1.00 lot, one tick, account currency
double step = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_STEP);
double minLot = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_MIN);
double maxLot = SymbolInfoDouble(symbol, SYMBOL_VOLUME_MAX);
if(tickSize <= 0.0 || tickValue <= 0.0 || step <= 0.0 || stopDistance <= 0.0)
return 0.0;
double lossPerLot = stopDistance / tickSize * tickValue; // money lost by 1.00 lot at the stop
double lots = MathFloor(riskMoney / lossPerLot / step + 1e-9) * step;
if(lots < minLot)
return 0.0;
int volumeDigits = (int)MathMax(0.0, MathCeil(-MathLog10(step) - 1e-9));
return NormalizeDouble(MathMin(lots, maxLot), volumeDigits);
}
void OnStart()
{
if(!SymbolSelect(InpSymbol, true))
{
PrintFormat("%s not found: use the exact name from Market Watch (some brokers add a suffix)", InpSymbol);
return;
}
int digits = (int)SymbolInfoInteger(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_DIGITS);
double point = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_POINT);
double contract = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_CONTRACT_SIZE);
double tickSize = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE);
double tickVal = SymbolInfoDouble(InpSymbol, SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE);
string currency = AccountInfoString(ACCOUNT_CURRENCY);
double risk = AccountInfoDouble(ACCOUNT_BALANCE) * InpRiskPercent / 100.0;
double lots = LotsForRisk(InpSymbol, risk, InpStopDistance);
PrintFormat("%s: contract size %g, %d digits, tick size %s, tick value %g %s per lot",
InpSymbol, contract, digits, DoubleToString(tickSize, digits), tickVal, currency);
PrintFormat("Stop %s = %.0f points. Risk %.2f %s",
DoubleToString(InpStopDistance, digits), InpStopDistance / point, risk, currency);
if(lots > 0.0)
PrintFormat("Lot size: %g", lots);
else
Print("Even the minimum volume risks more than that: widen the risk or tighten the stop");
}
The key line is stopDistance / tickSize * tickValue: the money one lot loses at the stop, already converted to your account currency by the terminal. Dividing the risk by it and flooring to SYMBOL_VOLUME_STEP gives the volume to pass to CTrade::Buy() or CTrade::Sell().
Pine Script v6 equivalent
The same sizing on a TradingView chart, from syminfo.pointvalue (money per 1.0 of price per unit) and syminfo.mintick (the chart's tick). Checked by Edgoro Pine Check; paste it into TradingView's Pine Editor to add it to a chart.
//@version=6
indicator("NZDUSD lot size for a money risk", overlay = true)
riskMoney = input.float(100.0, "Risk per trade (account currency)", minval = 0.01)
accountCcy = input.string("USD", "Account currency")
stopDistance = input.float(0.0018, "Stop-loss distance (price)", minval = 0.0)
contractSize = input.float(100000.0, "Units per 1.00 lot at your broker", minval = 0.0)
// One unit of the symbol gains or loses syminfo.pointvalue (in syminfo.currency) per 1.0 of price
fx = request.currency_rate(syminfo.currency, accountCcy)
lossPerUnit = stopDistance * syminfo.pointvalue * fx
units = lossPerUnit > 0 ? riskMoney / lossPerUnit : na
lots = contractSize > 0 ? math.floor(units / contractSize * 100) / 100 : na
var table info = table.new(position.top_right, 2, 3, bgcolor = color.new(color.gray, 80))
if barstate.islast
table.cell(info, 0, 0, "Stop")
table.cell(info, 1, 0, str.tostring(stopDistance / syminfo.mintick, "#") + " ticks of " + str.tostring(syminfo.mintick))
table.cell(info, 0, 1, "Units")
table.cell(info, 1, 1, str.tostring(units, "#.####"))
table.cell(info, 0, 2, "Lots (rounded down)")
table.cell(info, 1, 2, str.tostring(lots, "#.##"))
On a TradingView forex chart, syminfo.pointvalue is 1: units is an amount of NZD, and 100,000 of them make a lot. request.currency_rate() converts the USD result into your account currency.
Common mistakes on NZDUSD
- Correlation with AUD/USD. The two pairs tend to move together; risking 1% on each at the same time is closer to a single 2% position.
- Rounding. 0.5556 lots rounds down to 0.55 (risk $99), never up to 0.56 (risk $100.80).
- Quiet hours, wider spreads. Outside the busy sessions the spread can be a sizeable part of a short stop. Add it to the stop distance when you size, or the loss at the stop will exceed the plan.
Lot size sets how much a trade loses if the stop is hit at its price. It doesn't make a trade a good one, and gaps or slippage can make the loss larger. Trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Edgoro is a software tool, not a broker or financial adviser: nothing it produces is investment advice, and past or backtested performance does not guarantee future results.