Bond calculator
A bond’s price from its yield, or its yield to maturity from the price.
About this calculator
This bond calculator works out what a bond is worth at today's market yield, or the yield to maturity you earn if you buy it at a given price.
It also shows the current yield, the coupon payments and the duration, which tells you how much the price moves when interest rates change.
How it works
The price is the present value of every coupon and of the face value at maturity, each discounted at the market yield per period. Yield to maturity is the rate that makes that present value equal the price.
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Worked example
- Work out: Price from yield
- Face value: $1,000
- Coupon rate: 5% a year
- Years to maturity: 10 years
- Coupons paid: Twice a year
- Market yield: 6% a year
Bond price: $925.61 (a discount to face value)
Common questions
Why do bond prices fall when interest rates rise?
A bond's coupon is fixed. When new bonds pay more, an older bond is only worth buying at a lower price, which raises its yield to match the market.
What is the difference between the coupon rate and the yield?
The coupon rate is the interest paid on the face value. The yield to maturity also counts the price you pay and the gain or loss when the bond is repaid at face value.
What is duration?
A measure of how sensitive a bond's price is to interest rates. A modified duration of 7 means the price falls about 7% if yields rise by 1 percentage point.
Sources and further reading
The story behind it
Where the idea came from: Venice raised money from its citizens with loans called prestiti as early as the 1100s, and the right to their interest could be sold on to others.
Those loans paid a fixed yearly interest, so their market price rose and fell with interest rates, just as bond prices do today. The same sum, discounting each payment back to the present, still sets the price of every bond.
Why you can trust this calculator
- It runs in your browser. Nothing you type into it is sent anywhere.
- The method is explained on this page, so you can check it yourself.
- Free to use, with no sign-up.
- Results are estimates, not financial advice.
- Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll look into it.
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