Partial close

A partial close reduces the size of an open trade without closing it entirely. On most platforms you open the position, change the volume field to the amount you want to close, and close that amount. The closed part is booked to your balance; the rest stays open with its original entry price.

Traders use partial closes to take some profit at a first target while leaving the rest to run, or to cut exposure when they are less sure of a trade without abandoning it completely.

Example

Illustrative figures: you buy 1.00 lot of EUR/USD at 1.0850, with a stop at 1.0820 (30 pips, about $300 at risk).

• The price reaches 1.0890, 40 pips up. You close 0.50 lots, realising about 40 × $5 = $200.
• The remaining 0.50 lots stay open. You move the stop to 1.0850.
• If the stop is then hit, the second half closes at roughly zero before costs, and the trade nets about $200.
• If the price instead reaches 1.0950, the second half makes about 100 × $5 = $500, and the trade nets about $700.

Had you held the full lot to 1.0950, the trade would have made about $1,000; had you held it and been stopped at 1.0850, about zero. Partial closing trades some upside for a smoother result.

Practical notes

• You can only close in multiples of the platform's minimum step, usually 0.01 lots, so very small positions cannot be split finely.
• Each partial close may carry its own commission, depending on how the broker charges.
• On FIFO-restricted accounts (common at US brokers), the order of closing can be constrained.

The trailing stop guide covers other ways of managing a trade in profit, and break-even explains the stop step above.