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Trade Indices CFDs

Trade indices from the US, UK, Europe, Asia and Australia

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Trade global stock market indices

Forex

Commodities

Stocks

Indices

Bid

Ask

Spread

*The prices on this page are indicative. Prices for instruments with lower liquidity such as but not limited to exotic currency pairs, stocks and indices are not refreshed as often as commonly traded instruments. Please check inside your MT4/MT5 platform for latest live prices

What are indices?

Indices represent a collection of stocks organised by industry sector or country with their aggregate performance being tracked. Indices are particularly useful for monitoring the broader stock market's general performance. As well as providing a singular tradable instrument for gaining exposure in all the indices constituent stocks.

Popular indices include

S&P 500

Symbol: S&P500

An index composed of 500 large US companies, representing the overall US stock market.

Dow Jones

Symbol: DJ

An index that tracks 30 large publicly-owned U.S. companies.

Nasdaq

Symbol: NAS

An index that includes all the stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Nasdaq is heavily influenced by the technology sector.

FTSE 100

Symbol: UK100

An index representing the 100 largest companies listed on the London stock exchange in the UK.

DAX

Symbol: DE30

An index of the major German companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Euro Stoxx 50

Symbol: STOXX50

An index of Europe's leading blue-chip companies from 12 Eurozone member states.

IBEX 35

Symbol: ESP35

A Spanish stock market index comprising 35 of the most liquid stocks traded on the Madrid stock exchange.

ASX 200

Symbol: AUS200

A benchmark index of the top 200 companies listed on the Australian securities exchange.

Nikkei 225

Symbol: JP225

A stock market index representing 225 large Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.

Hang Seng Index

Symbol: HK50

An index representing 50 largest and most liquid companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

How indices trading works

Indices trading allows you to trade on the performance of a group of stocks without needing to buy shares in each individual company. If you think the value of the index is likely to rise, you can simply buy the index. If you think the value of the index is likely to fall, you can sell it.

Bid and ask prices

Each indice is quoted with two prices, the ”Bid” price and the ”Ask” price. The bid price is the price at which you can sell the indice. While the ask price is the price at which you can buy it. The ask price is always higher than the bid price and the difference between these prices is called the ”Spread”.

Go long or short

The basic idea is to buy (go long) when you think the indice will appreciate in value and sell (go short) when you think it will depreciate in value. Just like buying something at a lower price and trying to sell it at a higher price to profit. You can trade indices long or short, meaning that you can trade rising as well as falling prices.

Indices are traded in lots

When trading indices, trades are placed in terms of lots. Where one lot is usually the equivalent to trading 10 indices contracts. You can also trade mini lots (1 indices contract) or micro lots (1/10th of an indices contract). Check our contracts specifications page to learn more about indices lot sizes.

Indices trading involves leverage and margin

Indices trading involves using leverage, which allows you to place trades of a much larger value than the amount you have in your trading account. For example, trading with 20:1 leverage would allow you to buy 1 indices contract at only 5% of its current market value. Leverage can magnify potential profits but it also increases risk and speeds up losses.

Indices trading example

You decide to buy 0.1 lots of the S&P500 at 4500 using 20:1 leverage.

Trade size:

10 indices contracts x 4500 = USD 45,000

Initial exchange rate:

USD 45,000

Margin requirement:

USD 45,000 / 20 = USD 2,250

Now you have opened a long position in the S&P500 worth USD 45,000. Since indices are traded using leverage, only $2,250 was used as margin from your trading account. After some time, the price of the S&P500 moves and you decide to sell.

Scenario 1

The S&P500 moves up from 4500 to 4600 and you decide to sell.

This is how the profit or loss on the trade would be calculated.

P/L = ((Current price - Initial price) x Position value) / Current price

P/L = ((4600 - 4500) × 45,000) / 4,600

P/L = (100 × 45,000) / 4,600

P/L = 978.26

Scenario 2

The S&P500 moves down from 4500 to 4400 and you decide to sell.

This is how the profit or loss on the trade would be calculated.

P/L = ((Current price - Initial price) x Position value) / Current price

P/L = ((4400 - 4500) × 45,000) / 4,400

P/L = (-100 × 45,000) / 4,600

P/L= -978.26

Why trade with us?

Great value trading with a premium service

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Our aggregated liquidity keeps spreads low, most of the time

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Trade from $0 per lot on our VIP Black or Spread Betting accounts Other fees may apply

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Open your account from just $50 to start trading

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Trade forex, stocks, indices and commodity markets from anywhere, anytime

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Trade global financial markets on the MT4 & MT5 desktop or mobile trading platforms

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Metatrader4

MT4 was designed and developed for forex and futures trading. To enable traders to analyze and trade financial markets, back test trading strategies, develop trading robots and copy other traders.

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