Forex

FX trading, also known as foreign exchange trading, or forex trading, is the exchange of different currencies on a decentralized global market. It's one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world. Forex trading involves the simultaneous buying and selling of the world's currencies on this market.

Yes, forex trading is another term for currency trading. It's the exchange of one currency for another, with the aim of profiting from the fluctuating price movements of that currency pair.

There are plenty of online resources available which can help you learn to trade forex. You can find out more about the basics from our learn forex section, which covers a wide range of topics, including margin and leverage, pips, forex market hours and forex trading strategies.

With our demo account, you get access to most of the features and tools available with a live account, and you'll be using virtual funds, rather than real money. You can also access other markets, including indices, commodities and shares.

The most popularly traded currency pairs include major crosses such as EUR/USD, USD/JPY and GBP/USD, which represent wealthy, well-established economies across the world.

Forex margin rates are usually expressed as a percentage, with forex margin requirements typically starting at around 1.5% for major foreign exchange currency pairs. Your FX broker's margin requirement shows you the leverage you can use when trading forex with that broker.

To open a position you first need to deposit an amount of money known as a margin. The margin required reflects a percentage of the full value of the position. The first step is to establish the margin rate for the instrument you are trading.

Margin rates can be found within the trading platform by selecting Library (which displays the full list of products) from the top navigation toolbar, then selecting the three dots to the left of the specific product, which will show a sub-menu. Choose Product Overview from the sub-menu to view the margin rate details. The margin rates are tiered depending on the size of your position. To see the tiered rates select the arrow icon to the right of the margin rate section.

To calculate your margin requirement, take your margin rate and multiply this by the total value of the trade. Your estimated margin is also displayed within the order ticket. Note that the margin is independent of the direction of your position and will increase or decrease in line with the level 1 mid-price point of the product.

Learn more about how we calculate our CFD trading margins.

The overnight holding rate used when calculating the applicable holding cost on FX comes from the tom-next rate, which is the difference between the two currencies’ interest rates, with an additional 1% CMC Markets charge added. Learn more about CFD holding costs.

Please note, you'll be charged holding costs for three days on either a Wednesday or a Thursday, depending on the currency pair, as shown in the table below.

Yes, CFD trading, including trading on forex, involves leverage. The margin required for your chosen instrument dictates your level of leverage. For example, the margin on AUD/USD is 5%. This translates as a leverage ratio of 20:1, meaning you can effectively borrow 20 times your margin, or initial deposit.

There isn't necessarily a 'best forex strategy', because what suits one trader might not work for another. It depends on a series of factors, as well as your own risk appetite. There are many different types of strategies, including day trading, medium-term swing trading, and very short-term forex scalping.

Trading on the foreign exchange market, like all trading, involves risk. It's important to create and stick to a trading plan or strategy, and carry out research on the market you're looking to trade. This could include fundamental and technical analysis, or a combination of the two.

Trading with leverage allows you to gain greater exposure to the market with your initial margin, or deposit, but it's important to remember that your profits and losses will be amplified based on the full value of the trade.

Prices streamed from our liquidity providers are consumed by our automated pricing engine, where the best and most representative price is used to create our quotes.

If you are trading forex on our CFD platform, there is a 50 basis points (0.5%) charge to convert foreign currencies into your home currency.