Trading volume and turnover

What is trading volume

Trading volume is the amount of an instrument that changes hands in a set period. It is counted in units such as shares, contracts or lots. Turnover is the same activity measured in money: the total value of those trades.

In short, volume answers "how much was traded?" and turnover answers "how much money did that trading represent?"

Formal definition

• Volume is the sum of the quantities of all executed trades in the period. A trade has a buyer and a seller, but it is normally counted once.
• Turnover (value traded) is the sum of price × quantity for each executed trade in the period. For derivatives, turnover is often quoted as notional value, which is contract size × price × number of contracts.

The period can be a minute, a session, a day, a month or a year. A figure without a stated period has no clear meaning.

Worked example (hypothetical)

Suppose a listed share has only two trades in a session:

• The first trade is for a quantity Q₁ at price P₁.
• The second trade is for a quantity Q₂ at price P₂.

The session's figures are:

• Volume = Q₁ + Q₂ shares
• Turnover = (P₁ × Q₁) + (P₂ × Q₂) in the trading currency

If the price rises while the volume stays the same, turnover goes up. This is why the two figures can move in different directions.

To put real prices and quantities into these formulas, use the tools on the calculators page.

Where you see the terms

• Exchange data and news. Stock exchanges publish daily volume and value traded per share and for the whole market. Headlines such as "volume dried up" or "turnover rose" refer to these figures.
• Charts. MetaTrader shows volume bars under the price chart. See MetaTrader 5 and technical analysis.
• Order windows. On CFD platforms, the "Volume" field is the size of your order in lots. It is not market volume. See contract size.
• Account reports. An account statement may total the lots or the notional value you traded over a period.
• Fund reports. "Portfolio turnover" measures how much of a fund's holdings were bought and sold over a period.

Edge cases for experienced traders

• Spot forex has no central volume. Forex trades over the counter, between banks and dealers rather than on a single exchange. MetaTrader "tick volume" counts price updates from your broker's feed, not the units traded. MT5 can show real volume only where an exchange feed supplies it.
• Double counting. Some sources add the buy side and the sell side together. Check the method before you compare figures from different sources.
• Auctions and blocks. Opening and closing auctions, block trades and off-exchange prints can cause volume spikes that come from a few large orders.
• Volume vs open interest. For futures, volume counts trades in the period. Open interest counts the contracts still open at its end.
• Turnover ratio. Value traded divided by market capitalisation, often measured against free float, shows how actively a share trades relative to its size.
• "Turnover" in company accounts. In British usage, turnover can mean a company's revenue. This has nothing to do with market activity.

High volume does not tell you which way the price will move. Leveraged CFD and forex trading can lose money fast, whatever the volume.

Related terms

Order fill and partial fill · Average daily range · Exposure · Capitulation · Consolidation · Trading glossary

Frequent questions

What is the difference between volume and turnover?

Volume counts units traded, such as shares, contracts or lots. Turnover is the money value of those trades.

What does volume in trading mean on MetaTrader?

In the order window, it is your order size in lots. On a forex chart, the volume indicator usually shows tick volume, which is the number of price changes.

Is high volume a buy signal?

No. Volume shows how active trading was. It does not show where the price will go next.

Does forex have real trading volume?

Spot forex has no single exchange, so there is no complete market-wide volume figure. Each venue or broker sees only its own trades.