Spot vs. forward

I am playing around with a trading platform that allows me to trade both spot and forward outrights (it's a demo).

If I open a spotposition in EURUSD for 50,000, and a forward outright with expiry on the 19th of March, I don¨'t get the same P/L on them in the account summary straight away. Here's what I get:

-32 USD on the spot position
-65 USD on the forward outright

The spot deficit of 32 USD is easy to explain, obviously this is due to the Bid/ask spread. Also the 65 USD on the Forward Outright are due to the bid/ask spread, but why is the amount different? I have an OK fundamental knowledge about forward outrights, I understand the basics.. But I can't get my head around explaining this properly... Anyone?

(In case you were wondering: My accountsummary utilizes Mid rates for the P/L calculation, so the real P/Ls are probably exactly two times the above stated amounts.)

I think I understand your question..

$32 for the spot seems a lot for a 50k spot position if that is all because of the spread.. that would equate to over 6 pips...


Regarding the forward.. The spreads are usually higher for forward contracts.. Also they might not move exactly inline with the spot price at all times, but I think they should be the same on expiry plus or minus the interest differentials.

Hope this helps..

Pete