Reading an equity quote: pence, ticks and the touch

Every track has opened its reading module with the conventions that bite. Equities' first bite is currency-sized: a UK share quoted at 450 costs £4.50, not £450.

The pence convention

UK equities quote in pence - the grain-market trap of the commodities track, wearing sterling. A quote of 450 is £4.50 a share; a portfolio system mixing pence quotes with pound accounting is out by a factor of a hundred, and this error appears in real spreadsheets constantly. US, European and most other markets quote in the major unit. The habit from three tracks stands: know the unit before the number means anything.

Ticks, and the touch

• Tick size steps with price: cheap shares move in finer increments than dear ones, on published bands - so 'it moved a tick' means different percentages across names.
• The touch is two prices and two sizes: best bid, best offer, and how much is available at each. The displayed size is what is advertised, not all that exists - icebergs and market-maker obligations sit behind it.
• The mid is a convenience, not a price: nothing trades there; module 3 prices what crossing to a real side costs.

Reading one properly

A full quote read is four numbers and a context: bid, offer, the sizes, and the tier from module 1 that says whether this spread is normal for this name at this hour. A 2p spread reads tight on a £40 megacap and catastrophic on a 40p small-cap - percentage terms or nothing, which is the same discipline every quote lesson on this platform has ended with.