Liquidity describes how easily you can buy or sell an instrument without moving its price. Deep liquidity means tight spreads and minimal slippage; thin liquidity means wider costs and unpredictable fills.
Liquidity is not constant. EUR/USD during the London–New York overlap is among the deepest markets in the world, while the same pair during the Asian session can carry noticeably wider spreads. Economic releases create momentary liquidity vacuums even in major pairs.
The depth-of-market (DOM) view shows the actual order book: how much volume is available at each price level. Large traders use DOM to size orders so they don't consume multiple levels and incur slippage.
Practical takeaways: trade during liquid sessions when possible, use limit orders around news events, and check average spreads per session in the platform's instrument statistics before sizing up.
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