What 1 point is on US500
US500 (SPX500 at some brokers) is a CFD on the S&P 500, priced in dollars. At about 6,700 its moves are much smaller in points than the Dow's or the Nasdaq's, so stops are short in points and lot sizes are large.
Capital.com, BlackBull Markets (as SPX500) and Purple Trading publish a contract size of 1: 1.00 lot = $1 per point. A 25-point stop is about 0.37% of the price.
US500 point value per lot
Value of one point (1.00 in price): 1 × 1 = $1 per 1.00 lot, with a contract size of 1.
| Position | 1 point | 25 points (25.00) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.00 lot | $1.00 | $25.00 |
| 0.10 lot | $0.10 | $2.50 |
| 0.01 lot | $0.0100 | $0.25 |
Worked example: 1% of $10,000
- Risk: 1% × $10,000 = $100.00.
- Stop: 25 points = 25.00 in price.
- Value of 1 point per 1.00 lot: $1.00.
- Lot size = $100.00 ÷ (25 × $1.00) = 4.0000, rounded down to the 0.01 step: 4.00 lots.
Four lots sounds large, but at $1 per point it is a $4-per-point position: the loss at the 25-point stop is exactly $100.
Contract size and tick value in MT5
In MetaTrader 5, right-click US500 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 | 1 at the three brokers below |
|---|---|
| Digits | 1 or 2 depending on the broker |
| Tick size (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_SIZE) | 0.1 or 0.01 |
| Profit currency | USD |
| Tick value, 1.00 lot (SYMBOL_TRADE_TICK_VALUE) | contract size × tick size |
| Value of 1 index point per lot | contract size × $1 |
Published values, checked on 2026-11-12. Specifications change and can differ by account type: your own Specification window is the reference.
| Source | Symbol there | Contract size | Price step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital.com | US500 | 1 | 1 digit |
| BlackBull Markets | SPX500 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Purple Trading | US500 | 1 | 0.01 |
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 US500, then prints the lot size that risks 1% of the balance at the stop. The stop is a price distance (25.00), so the result is the same on 2-, 3- or 5-digit quotes. Save it as MQL5/Scripts/LotSize_US500.mq5 and compile it in MetaEditor (F7): 0 errors, 0 warnings.
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
//| LotSize_US500.mq5 |
//| Lot size that risks a % of the balance at a given stop distance|
//+------------------------------------------------------------------+
#property script_show_inputs
input string InpSymbol = "US500"; // Symbol, exactly as in Market Watch
input double InpRiskPercent = 1.0; // Risk per trade, % of balance
input double InpStopDistance = 25.00; // Stop-loss distance in price (25.00 = 25 points)
// 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("US500 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(25.00, "Stop-loss distance (price)", minval = 0.0)
contractSize = input.float(1.0, "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 CFD chart syminfo.pointvalue is usually 1, so units is the number of index units: set the contract size input to your broker's value. On a futures chart, syminfo.pointvalue already includes the contract multiplier, so units are contracts and the contract size input should be 1.
Common mistakes on US500
- Judging size by the lot count. 4.00 lots of US500 is $4 per point, a smaller exposure per point than 0.10 lot of gold ($10 per $1 move). Compare value per point, not lots.
- The ES multiplier. The E-mini S&P 500 is $50 per point and the Micro $5. CFD lots are not futures contracts.
- The symbol name. US500, SPX500 and US500Cash can be different products at the same broker; the script below needs the exact Market Watch name.
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.