What Is a Bid Ask Spread?
Every time you place a trade in any financial market — whether it’s forex, equities, commodities, or indices — there is an invisible cost baked into the transaction before you’ve even opened your position. That cost is embedded in the bid ask spread, and when it widens, it can quietly erode your returns in ways many traders fail to notice until it’s too late.
The bid ask spread is the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset (the bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (the ask). The gap between these two figures is the spread — and a wide bid ask spread signals, either low liquidity, high market volatility, or both.
Understanding this spread is not optional for serious manual traders. It is fundamental.
What Causes a Wide Bid** **Ask Spread?
Spreads are not static. They expand and contract in response to market conditions, and knowing what drives that movement gives you a critical edge. Here are the primary factors behind a wide bid-ask spread:
Low Market Liquidity
When fewer buyers and sellers are active in a market, the gap between bid and ask naturally widens. Thinly traded assets — such as small-cap stocks, exotic currency pairs, or niche commodities — routinely carry wider spreads than their highly liquid counterparts.
High Market Volatility
During periods of rapid price movement — triggered by major economic data releases, geopolitical events, or central bank announcements — market makers widen spreads to compensate for the increased risk of holding positions in an unpredictable environment.
Off-Peak Trading Hours
Even in highly liquid markets like forex, spreads tend to widen during off-peak hours when trading volumes are lower. For instance, trading the GBP/USD pair in the middle of the Asian session will typically yield a wider spread than during the overlap of the London and New York sessions.
Asset Class and Market Structure
Some instruments are structurally wider by nature. Over-the-counter (OTC) instruments, penny stocks, and certain derivatives tend to carry wider spreads than exchange-traded assets with deep, centralised order books.
Why Wide Bid-Ask Spreads Matter in Manual Trading
For manual traders — those who actively monitor charts, read price action, and execute positions based on real-time judgement — the bid-ask spread is a direct trading cost that must be factored into every strategy.
Consider this: if you enter a trade with a wide spread, your position begins immediately in the red. The market must move in your favour by at least the width of the spread before you break even. On short-term or scalping strategies, a persistently wide spread can render an otherwise profitable approach completely unviable.
This is why professional manual traders consistently gravitate towards tight-spread instruments and trade during peak liquidity windows, because every pip of spread saved is a pip of profit preserved.
How to Navigate Wide Bid-Ask Spreads Effectively
Rather than simply avoiding wide spreads, the smartest traders learn to work with and around them:
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Trade during peak market hours — Focus on session overlaps (London/New York for forex) when liquidity is deepest and spreads are tightest
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Choose liquid instruments — Major forex pairs, blue-chip indices, and heavily traded commodities naturally carry tighter spreads
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Factor spreads into your risk-reward calculations — Always account for the spread cost before assessing whether a trade setup meets your minimum risk-reward threshold
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Monitor spread behaviour ahead of news events — Spreads widen sharply around high-impact releases; either avoid trading in those windows or adjust your strategy accordingly
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Use a reputable broker — Platforms like VT Markets offer competitive, transparent spreads across a wide range of instruments, ensuring your trading costs remain as low as possible
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Risk Warning: Trading CFDs involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Losses can exceed your initial deposit. Please ensure you fully understand the risks involved before trading.
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