Spread – The difference between the bid (sell) and ask (buy) prices of a currency pair. This is effectively the transaction cost for entering an immediate trade. For example, if EUR/USD is quoted 1.1051/1.1053, the spread is 2 pips. Spreads can be fixed or variable; they typically widen in illiquid or volatile conditions. Robots monitor the spread because a large spread increases cost and can trigger spread-based trade filters. In code, many platforms expose spread via symbol properties (e.g. Symbol.Spread in cTrader).

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