What It Means
Gold Mini and Gold Petal are two of MCX's smaller gold futures contracts, built for traders who want exposure to gold without the capital the full-size contract demands. Gold Mini represents 100 grams of gold per lot, and Gold Petal represents just 1 gram, the smallest gold contract MCX offers.
How It Works
MCX actually lists four gold variants: Big Gold (1 kilogram per lot), Gold Mini (100 grams), Gold Guinea (8 grams), and Gold Petal (1 gram). All four track the same underlying gold price and move together, but the margin required scales down with the lot size, so Gold Petal needs only a few hundred rupees while Big Gold can need well over ₹1 lakh. Big Gold and Gold Mini see the most trading volume; Gold Guinea and Gold Petal trade far thinner, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads.
Example
If gold trades at ₹1,15,000 per 10 grams, one Gold Mini lot (100 grams) has a notional value of about ₹11,50,000, while one Gold Petal lot (1 gram) is worth roughly ₹11,500. A ₹100 move in the 10-gram gold price changes a Gold Mini position by ₹1,000 and a Gold Petal position by ₹10.
Warning
A common mistake is placing a market order in Gold Guinea or Gold Petal without checking the order book first. Both trade far thinner than Big Gold and Gold Mini, so a market order can fill at a noticeably worse price than expected.