Rates differences worldwide

Beginner Questions
1

Geez I’m busy today.

This is more of a general knowledge / would like to know question.

I have noticed that the rates quoted for Buy / Sell are always different from one system to another and even from TV and radio.

When I’m working I have Bloomberg (or CNBC) on TV, my radio is on, and sometimes I will have a demo from another dealer open on another workstation just for fun.

What I have noticed is that at any given point not any one of the rates quoted for a pair or for Gold for example is EXACTLY the same. They are not different by very much but I was just wondering what the reason for this is. I mean on Bloomberg Gold, for example, might be quoted at $661.00 but on my trading system it will be between $660.75 and $662.00 and on another (supposed) live demo from another dealer the rate will be different again and the radio will quote yet a different price and so on and so forth.

What is the reason for this? I mean is Gold, for example, not $661.00 per ounce anywhere in the world at any given time?

Just interested to know.

Regards,

Dale.

2

Since forex is not exchange traded - at least not spot, which is what you are no doubt referring to - the quotes comes from a multitude of banks, brokerages, and quote aggregation sources (Reuters, Bloomberg, etc.). That’s why they vary.

As for gold, part of it could be a function of some folks quoting the futures contracts and others talking about spot (cash) gold. Also, there are a large number of exchanges and whatnot where gold trades, which is bound to lead to some small price discrepancies.