Introduction to market data

You must upload market data to at least one LUSID market data store in order to perform a valuation.

The quantity and quality of market data required, and the store or stores to load it in, depend upon the types of instruments you wish to value and the pricing models chosen. Find out what market data you require.

LUSID has two market data stores:

• The Quote Store is designed to store data points representing a single value at a single point in time, for example a market price for Apple or a USD/GBP spot rate.
• The Complex Market Data (CMD) Store is designed to store complex market data objects required to value derivatives, for example a discount factor curve encapsulating the idea that money today is not worth the same as money in the future. See the different categories of complex market data.

For example, in order to value a USD/GBP FX forward contract using the ForwardFromCurve pricing model, you must upload:

• A FX spot rate for USD/GBP for the valuation date to the Quote Store.
• A discount factor curve for USD to the CMD Store.
• An appropriate FX forward curve for USD/GBP (for example FxForwardCurveData) to the CMD Store.

To interact with the:

• Quote Store you can use the LUSID web app, APIs in the Quotes collection, or dedicated Luminesce providers. More information.
• CMD Store you can use the APIs in the Complex Market Data collection. More information.