Quote
Family VII · Market & styles
Not to be confused with quote currency.
Quote is the price information a market publishes for an instrument at a given moment. It typically consists of a bid, the highest price a buyer is currently willing to pay, and an ask, the lowest price a seller is currently willing to accept. A quote is not a guarantee of execution; it reflects the best available interest at the time it is shown.
Bid, ask and spread
A two-sided quote shows the bid and the ask. The difference between them is the spread. A buyer lifting the ask pays the higher price; a seller hitting the bid receives the lower price. The midpoint, or average of bid and ask, is often used as a reference price for valuation or index calculation.
Quotes can be firm or indicative. A firm quote is executable at the stated size and price; an indicative quote is an estimate and may change before any trade is agreed.
Worked example
Quotes in practice
Quotes are distributed by exchanges, brokers and data vendors, and the number of decimal places, the size shown and whether the quote is firm vary by venue and instrument. In over-the-counter markets, quotes are often made by dealers and may be valid only for a short time or a specified quantity. Delayed quotes are common on public websites, while real-time quotes are typically supplied under exchange licensing terms.
Often confused with
- quote currency
- A quote is the price of an instrument, whereas the quote currency is the second currency in a currency pair and the one in which the price is expressed; the visible sign is that a quote appears as a bid and ask, while the quote currency appears as the right-hand code in a pair such as EUR/USD.