Key takeaways
- A 1-pip EUR/USD spread is 39% of an average 5-minute candle, 10% of an hourly one and under 2% of a daily one.
- On EUR/GBP the typical spread is as big as the entire average 5-minute candle. Scalping it is almost all cost.
- Spreads are stable through the day, then jump around 22:00 London (the New York rollover): EUR/USD's raw spread goes from 0.3 to 3.1 pips.
- A raw-spread account isn't automatically cheaper: 0.3 pips plus a typical commission is about the same 1 pip on EUR/USD.
Scalping is sold as the fast route: small moves, quick profits, dozens of trades a day. Day trading and swing trading look slow by comparison. But the real difference between them isn’t speed. It’s how much of each move you hand to your broker.
We measured it. For six of the most traded pairs we took 90 days of 5-minute prices, worked out the average size of a candle on each timeframe from 5 minutes to 1 day, and compared it with what it costs to trade.
The cost of a trade, by timeframe
A trade’s cost is the spread you pay to get in and out. The move you’re trying to capture is roughly the size of a candle on the timeframe you trade. Divide one by the other and you get the share of a typical move you give away before you’ve made anything:
Show the data
| 5 min | 38.5% |
| 15 min | 21.3% |
| 1 hour | 10.3% |
| 4 hours | 5.0% |
| 1 day | 1.8% |
On EUR/USD, the most liquid pair in the world:
| Timeframe | Average candle | A 1-pip spread is… |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 2.6 pips | 38.5% of it |
| 15 minutes | 4.7 pips | 21.3% |
| 1 hour | 9.7 pips | 10.3% |
| 4 hours | 20.2 pips | 5.0% |
| 1 day | 55.9 pips | 1.8% |
A scalper on the 5-minute chart is paying over a third of a typical move on every trade. A swing trader on the daily chart pays less than a fiftieth. The scalper doesn’t need to be a bit better than the swing trader; they need to be far better, just to finish level.
It’s worse on most other pairs
EUR/USD is the cheapest major to trade relative to its movement. Comparing the typical standard-account spread with the average 5-minute candle across all six pairs:
EUR/GBP is the extreme case. It moves only about 26 pips in an average day, and its typical 1.4-pip spread is as large as its entire average 5-minute candle. Scalping it means paying a full candle’s movement to enter. Even on its daily chart the spread is over 5% of the move, three times EUR/USD’s share.
At the other end, USD/JPY moves a lot for its spread: 5.3 pips on an average 5-minute candle against a 1.2-pip spread. That makes it the most scalping-friendly of the six, though “friendly” still means paying 23% of every typical move.
| Pair | Typical retail spread | 5-min candle | Cost share at 5 min | Cost share at 1 day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD/JPY | 1.2 pips | 5.3 pips | 22.6% | 1.1% |
| GBP/JPY | 2.5 pips | 6.8 pips | 36.8% | 1.8% |
| EUR/USD | 1.0 pip | 2.6 pips | 38.5% | 1.8% |
| GBP/USD | 1.4 pips | 3.4 pips | 41.2% | 2.0% |
| AUD/USD | 1.2 pips | 2.2 pips | 54.5% | 2.7% |
| EUR/GBP | 1.4 pips | 1.4 pips | 100% | 5.3% |
When spreads blow out
Spreads aren’t constant. We measured the real bid-ask spread on Dukascopy’s feed at the close of every 5-minute candle for 90 days. For most of the day it barely moves. Then, around 22:00 London time, it jumps.
Show the data
| 00 | 0.40 |
| 01 | 0.40 |
| 02 | 0.30 |
| 03 | 0.30 |
| 04 | 0.30 |
| 05 | 0.30 |
| 06 | 0.30 |
| 07 | 0.30 |
| 08 | 0.30 |
| 09 | 0.30 |
| 10 | 0.30 |
| 11 | 0.30 |
| 12 | 0.30 |
| 13 | 0.30 |
| 14 | 0.30 |
| 15 | 0.30 |
| 16 | 0.30 |
| 17 | 0.30 |
| 18 | 0.30 |
| 19 | 0.30 |
| 20 | 0.30 |
| 21 | 0.40 |
| 22 | 3.10 |
| 23 | 0.50 |
That hour is the daily rollover, 17:00 in New York, when the trading day ends, banks settle and liquidity drains away. EUR/USD’s median raw spread rises from 0.3 pips to 3.1. On GBP/JPY it goes from about 1.5 pips to 16.7.
For scalpers this matters twice. Trades opened around the rollover pay several times the normal cost, and stop losses can be triggered by the spread widening alone, without the price really moving. If you trade in the late European evening, check your broker’s spread at that hour before you set stops.
Raw spread or standard account?
Brokers offer two pricing models: a standard account with a wider spread and no commission, and a raw (or ECN) account with a much tighter spread plus a commission per lot.
The raw spreads we measured are tight: a median of 0.3 pips on EUR/USD, 0.4 on USD/JPY and 0.7 on GBP/USD. But the commission has to be added. A commission of, say, $7 per standard lot for the round trip is the same as 0.7 pips on a pair where a pip is worth $10. So raw EUR/USD costs about 0.3 + 0.7 = 1.0 pip: no cheaper than a typical standard account.
Raw accounts tend to win on pairs whose standard spreads are wide, and for traders whose strategies depend on precise entries. The only way to know is to work out your all-in cost per trade, in pips, for the pairs you actually trade.
So which should you choose?
None of this means scalping can’t work. It means the bar is very high, and it’s set by arithmetic rather than skill:
- Scalping (1–5 minute charts) needs an edge that wins clearly more than half the time after paying 20–40% of each typical move. Possible on USD/JPY or EUR/USD with very low costs; close to impossible on EUR/GBP or AUD/USD.
- Day trading (15 minutes to 1 hour) brings the cost down to 10–20% of a move on the majors. Still significant, but an edge has room to show.
- Swing trading (4 hours to daily) makes costs nearly irrelevant: 1–5% of a move. The challenges become patience, wider stops, smaller positions and overnight swap.
If you’re starting out, the timeframe that gives you the most room for error isn’t the one that feels fastest. It’s the one where the market takes the smallest share. Our guide to why most traders lose shows how quickly that share adds up.
Method: Dukascopy 5-minute bid and ask candles for the 90 days to 16 October 2026. Average candle: mean high-to-low range of complete candles on each timeframe, built from 5-minute data (1-day figures are the 90-day average daily range on our market pages). Raw spread: median of ask minus bid at each 5-minute close. Retail spreads are typical standard-account levels and are assumptions; check your own broker’s.
This article is for education and information, not investment advice. Trading forex and CFDs on margin is high risk and most retail accounts lose money. Read our risk warning.