Ask Price
Trading MechanicsThe price at which the market (or broker) is willing to sell a currency pair to you. You buy at the ask price. Also called the offer price.
What Is the Ask Price?
The ask price (also called the offer) is the price at which you can buy a Currency Pair. It is always slightly higher than the Bid Price. When you see EUR/USD quoted as 1.0850/1.0852, the ask price is 1.0852. The difference between bid and ask is the Spread.
Ask Price in Trading
Every time you open a Long position (buy), you enter at the ask price. Every time you close a Short position, you exit at the ask price. This means you start every buy trade at a slight disadvantage equal to the spread, which the market must overcome before your position becomes profitable.
What Affects the Ask Price
The ask price moves continuously based on supply and demand. During high-liquidity periods (London-New York overlap), the ask is very close to the bid (tight spread). During low-liquidity periods (late Asian session for European pairs) or around major news releases, the ask price may temporarily spike higher as market makers widen their spreads to manage risk. See our Best Time to Trade Forex for when spreads are tightest.
Related Terms
Bid Price
The price at which the market (or broker) is willing to buy a currency pair from you. You sell at the bid price.
Bid-Ask Spread
The difference between the bid price and the ask price. The bid-ask spread is the transaction cost of executing a round-trip trade.
Spread
The difference between the bid (sell) price and the ask (buy) price of a currency pair. The spread is the primary cost of making a trade.
Exchange Rate
The price of one currency expressed in terms of another currency. EUR/USD at 1.0850 means 1 euro equals 1.0850 US dollars.