Setting spreads for indices

Hi all,

Its a common question but still not clear for me.

I want to set spread for nasdaq. The data feed I use on SQX has a pip/tick size and step of 0.01 and default spread set to 190pips.

Also my broker has the same specifications  and the spread for nasdaq on my broker is 150 points.

would it be correct to set the spread on SQX to 1.9 pips ? I shouldnt set it 190 right ?

thanks.

If the pip size and step are the same being 0.01 then when you set the spread value to 190 it will be 190 x 0.01 = 1.9 price points

Sorry to repeat the question, but I still have some doubts.

In my case I’m using NASDAQ / US100 on FTMO, where the symbol is quoted with:

– Pip/Tick size = 0.01
– Pip/Tick step = 0.01

What I’m trying to do is make stops, targets and spreads more similar to with how I handle CFDs and commodities, so I can work with values like 1.5 instead of very large numbers.

So my question is:

– If I change Pip/Tick size to 1, can I then set the spread in SQX to 1.5 pips?
– And if I keep Pip/Tick size at 0.01, then should the spread be set to 150 instead?

I just want to confirm that this interpretation is correct.

Thanks!!

I have two suggestions that I hope will be of help to you.
Option 1: Tick Size = 1, spread set to 1.5

Formula: Actual price spread = 1 × 1.5 = 1.5

This means that in the backtest, the spread ranges from 16,500.00 to 16,501.50, a span of 1.5 index points. However, in FTMO’s US100, the actual tick size is only 0.01, meaning your simulated spread is magnified by a factor of 100. The backtest results show that the wide-spread strategy performs poorly, but in live trading, where spreads are extremely narrow, the strategy will miss out on significant profit opportunities due to an excessive overestimation of costs.

Option 2: Keep Tick Size = 0.01, enter spread as 150

Formula: Actual price spread = 0.01 × 150 = 1.5

In terms of the absolute value of the actual spread (1.5 index points), the results of Option 2 are identical to those of Option 1. However, the difference lies in the fact that Option 2 better aligns with SQX’s operational rules, and the stop-loss and take-profit settings are more in line with your requirements.