USD/ZAR
USDZAR is a currency pair quoted in South African rand.
- Contract size
- 100 000
- Pip size
- 0.0001
- Quoted in
- ZAR
Value of one pip by volume
| Volume | Units | Value per pip |
|---|---|---|
| 0.01 | 1 000 | 0.10 ZAR |
| 0.05 | 5 000 | 0.50 ZAR |
| 0.10 | 10 000 | 1.00 ZAR |
| 0.50 | 50 000 | 5.00 ZAR |
| 1.00 | 100 000 | 10.00 ZAR |
| 2.00 | 200 000 | 20.00 ZAR |
| 5.00 | 500 000 | 50.00 ZAR |
| 10.00 | 1 000 000 | 100.00 ZAR |
USDZAR is a currency pair quoted in South African rand, and the result of a trade in it is calculated by multiplying the price move in pips by the value of one pip per lot, then converting that amount into the currency of your account. Everything below follows from the instrument's contract specification.
What the contract actually specifies
The instrument is USD/ZAR, written as USDZAR — a currency pair whose quote currency is the rand. The figures that matter for any calculation are set by the contract specification rather than by the platform's display.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Contract size | 100,000 units of the base asset per lot |
| Pip (price step) | 0.0001 |
| Price quotation | 5 decimal places |
| Quote currency | ZAR |
Three numbers, and each of them feeds directly into the arithmetic: the contract size sets the scale of the position, the pip defines the unit in which price movement is measured, and the quote currency determines which currency the intermediate result lands in.
The same ground from another side: Position size · USD/ZAR and Value per pip · USD/ZAR.
Why the pip is 0.0001 and not the last decimal on screen
The price is quoted with five digits after the decimal point, but the pip is 0.0001 — four digits. The fifth decimal place is a fraction of a pip, and it exists on the quote for finer pricing, not as a separate unit of account.
This distinction matters the moment you count a move. If you read the last digit of the quote as the step, you overstate the number of pips in a given move. The contract names 0.0001 as the step, so that is what any pip count is built on.
When you are ready to trade this instrument, open an account with a broker that offers it — and read the conditions before you fund it.
Open an accountThe calculation, step by step
The specification states the result of a trade as follows: the price movement in pips is multiplied by the value of one step, which equals 0.0001 × 100,000 in the quote currency (ZAR) per lot, and the outcome is then converted into the currency of the account.
Read that as three separate stages rather than one formula:
- Measure the move in pips. The distance between entry and exit, expressed in steps of 0.0001. Direction determines the sign — the same distance counts as a gain or a loss depending on which way the position was taken.
- Convert pips into ZAR per lot. This is where the contract size and the pip meet. The step value per lot is fixed by the contract, not by the current price, so it does not drift as the market moves.
- Convert ZAR into the account currency. The result above is denominated in rand. If the account is held in another currency, that amount has to be translated before it becomes a number on the statement.
Two things follow from this structure. First, the size of the position scales the result linearly — the number of lots is a multiplier applied to a per-lot figure, not a separate calculation. Second, the currency conversion at the end is a distinct step with its own rate; it is not baked into the pip value.
The calculator on this page performs this arithmetic. It is worth using it rather than working the numbers out by hand, because the sequence — pips, then per-lot value, then conversion — is easy to collapse incorrectly when done mentally.
Where the account currency enters the picture
The contract fixes the pip value in ZAR. That is the currency of the quote, and it is not necessarily the currency your account is denominated in.
For a rand-denominated account, the conversion step is neutral — the figure arrives already in the right unit. For an account held in another currency, the ZAR amount has to be translated at whatever rate applies at the time, which means the final result depends on two markets rather than one: the USDZAR move you traded, and the rate between the rand and your account currency. A position can be correct on the pair and still produce a different final number than expected because of the second conversion.
This is not a hidden cost or a markup — it is simply the consequence of the contract being quoted in ZAR while the account is kept in something else. The specification names the conversion as part of the calculation, so it belongs in the same breath as the pip count.
What the specification does not fix
The contract sets the contract size, the pip, the number of decimal places and the currency of the quote. It does not set the price, the spread, the leverage available on the instrument, or the rate used for the final currency conversion.
Those come from the trading conditions and from the market at the moment of the trade, and they change. The four values in the table above do not — they are properties of the instrument itself, which is why they can be relied on as the fixed part of any calculation, while everything else has to be taken as it stands when the order is placed.
All values cited here still need verification. Treat them as the specification to calculate against, and confirm them against the current registry entry before relying on them for anything settled in money.