Trading knowledge libraryWhat Is a Market OrderMarket Basics
Market Basics
What Is a Market Order
A market order says fill me now, at whatever the price is. This paper shows you the window it is sent from, which of the two prices on the screen it takes, why the trade shows a small loss the instant it opens, and the two moments when the price you get can sit some way from the price you clicked.
A market order is the simplest order there is. It says: fill me now, at whatever the price is. On the order window the type is set to market execution, and there is no price box to type into, because the order does not carry a price of its own. There are two buttons, sell and buy, each showing the price it would take at this instant. Press one and the order goes; a second later it is filled at the price that was there when it arrived.
Which price it takes
Every pair has two prices at once: the bid, which you sell at, and the ask, which you buy at, with the spread between them. A market buy takes the ask, the higher one; a market sell takes the bid, the lower one. At the open of 3 September 2026 the euro against the dollar showed 1.15872 and 1.15881 — a pip is the fourth decimal place, so the spread was 0.9 pips. Buy by market and you are in at 1.15881.
The second after the fill, the Trade tab shows the trade at a small loss. It opened at the ask, 1.15881, and the platform values it at the bid, 1.15872, because that is the price it could be sold back at right now. The difference is the spread: nine dollars at one lot, where a pip is worth ten dollars. Nothing has gone wrong. The market order bought certainty — a fill, now — and the spread is what certainty costs.
