mt5.symbol_info_tick() in MetaTrader5 Python: get the latest bid and ask

Returns the last tick of a symbol: time, bid, ask, last price and volume. Use it for the current price. Returns None when there is no tick.

Signature

mt5.symbol_info_tick(symbol)

What it does

symbol_info_tick() is the usual way to read the price right now, for example to set the price of a market order.

The result is a named tuple. time is in seconds and time_msc is the same moment in milliseconds.

Parameters

Parameter	What it is
`symbol`	The symbol name, exactly as the broker spells it. Required.

What it returns

A named tuple with time, bid, ask, last, volume, time_msc, flags and volume_real.
None when the symbol is unknown, not selected, or has no tick yet. Check mt5.last_error().

Example

import MetaTrader5 as mt5

if not mt5.initialize():
    raise SystemExit(mt5.last_error())

mt5.symbol_select("EURUSD", True)
tick = mt5.symbol_info_tick("EURUSD")
if tick is None:
    raise SystemExit(mt5.last_error())

print(tick.bid, tick.ask, f"spread {tick.ask - tick.bid:.5f}")
print("tick at", tick.time_msc, "ms on the broker's clock")
mt5.shutdown()

Common mistakes

tick.time counts seconds on the broker's server clock, not true UTC. Many brokers run two or three hours ahead of UTC, so comparing it with your own clock gives a wrong age.
A symbol that is not in Market Watch has no fresh ticks. Call symbol_select(symbol, True) first.
At the weekend the last tick can be days old. Check its age before you trust it.

The same with Tickwire on Linux

The package needs a Windows terminal on the same machine. Tickwire runs the terminal for you and gives you a REST API, so the code below runs on Linux, macOS or a server.

Tickwire's current-tick and current-price routes return the latest price. Times come as UTC in time and as broker time in brokerTime, clearly labelled, so the age is easy to work out. On MT5 a hidden symbol is added to Market Watch for you.

See Time zones for how broker time is measured.

import os, requests

API = "https://api.tickwire.io"
h = {"auth-token": os.environ["TW_KEY"]}      # your Tickwire key
base = f"{API}/users/current/accounts/{os.environ['TW_ACCOUNT']}"

tick = requests.get(f"{base}/symbols/EURUSD/current-tick", headers=h).json()
print(tick["bid"], tick["ask"], tick["time"], tick["brokerTime"])

Related error codes

All MetaTrader5 Python functions

MT5 from Python, on any machine

One REST API for MT4 and MT5, with idempotent orders and an audit log. Read the MT5 Python API page or the quickstart.

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