What's the difference between investing in shares and trading share CFDs?

When investing in shares, you buy and own company shares outright, usually with longer-term investment in mind. When trading share CFDs, you don't take ownership of the underlying shares. Instead, you speculate on whether share prices will rise or fall. CFDs are leveraged products, meaning you only deposit a percentage of the total position value to open a trade.

Share Trading | CFDs Trading

Q: What is shares trading?

A share represents a portion of the ownership of a public company. The shares of a publicly listed company will be available on a stock market, such as the FTSE 100 index, whose constituent stocks are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Trading shares in the underlying market involves the buying and selling of a company's shares, with the aim of profiting through the company's share price rising over time. The aim would be to sell your shares at a higher price than when you bought them. You can trade CFDs on shares with us, without actually owning the underlying share.

Q: What is leveraged trading?

One of the advantages of trading CFDs is that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of your position to open a trade, known as trading on leverage. Remember, trading on leverage can also amplify losses, so it's important to manage your risk.

Q: How does trading CFDs on shares actually work?

When you trade CFDs on shares on our platform, you don't buy or sell the underlying share. Instead, you're taking a position on whether you think the company's share price will go up or down. With CFD trading, you buy or sell a number of units for a particular instrument. For every point or unit that the price moves in your favour, you gain multiples of your stake, and vice versa.

Q: What are the extended trading hours for shares and ETFs?

You can trade CFDs on over US stocks and ETFs around-the-clock, from 1am Monday through to 10pm Friday (UK time).* For more details on trading in extended hours, visit our extended trading hours FAQs. *The main US session trading hours (when the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ are open) are 2.30pm to 9pm (UK time). Please note: there is a three-week period during March, and one week in October, between the US and UK clocks changing for daylight saving time (DST), when the underlying US exchanges will open and close one hour earlier than usual.

Q: Are there additional risks when trading during extended hours?

Yes, there is a higher risk when you trade outside of the core trading session hours (when the underlying exchange is closed). There is likely to be a greater level of price volatility, due to lower trading volumes. This is because there are fewer participants than during normal market hours, resulting in less liquidity, which means that markets are more volatile as a result. These market conditions mean that prices are likely to fluctuate more rapidly than usual, and some trades could be more difficult to execute, owing to the lower trading volumes. Our spreads may also be wider compared with the main trading session. You can place the same order types as normal during extended-hours trading, although we lower trading and position limits compared with the main trading session. This helps us to manage risk during periods of lower liquidity in the market. Because of this lower liquidity, your pending orders may not always execute as they would in the main trading session. For limit orders, take-profit orders, stop-loss orders, trailing stop-loss orders, stop-entry orders and guaranteed stop-loss orders, we won't execute the order if the target price is reached until we can validate this price against broader market activity. This is to protect you, and helps us ensure that execution occurs at a representative market price. Account liquidations also function as normal, so it's important to ensure that your account is properly funded, and that you allow enough time to deposit funds, if required.

Q: Is it free to open an account?

There's no cost when opening a live trading account with us. You can also view prices and use tools such as charts, Reuters news or Morningstar quantitative equity reports, free of charge. However, you'll need to deposit funds in your account to place a trade.

Q: Is CMC Markets regulated?

CMC Markets Germany GmbH is a company authorised and regulated by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). CMC Markets complies with the requirements of §84 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG) regarding client funds.

Q: How does CMC Markets protect my money?

CMC Markets Germany GmbH is a broker regulated by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). It holds funds of private clients separately from its own funds in separate bank accounts. In the unlikely event that CMC Markets Germany GmbH is unable to meet its financial obligations, the EdW would cover any claim for damages by claimants up to €20,000, provided that certain criteria are met.

Q: How does CMC Markets segregate client money?

Retail client money is kept in separate trust accounts. By keeping retail client money separate from CMC Markets' own funds, it ensures that retail money is not owned and cannot be used by CMC Markets, as it is held on trust for retail clients. Learn more about client money regulations.

EU regulated

35+ years' expertise

FTSE 250 group

2025 WINNER

Best Mobile Trading Platform

ADVFN International Financial Awards

2025 WINNER

No.1 Commissions & Fees

ForexBrokers.com Awards

2023 WINNER

Best CFD Provider

Online Money Awards

What is shares trading?

Shares trading, also known as stock trading, is the process of speculating on the price movement of publicly trading companies.

With us, you can trade on shares as leveraged CFDs, which allow you to go long if you think a share price will rise, or go short if you think that it'll fall, without taking ownership of the underlying stock. Please note that leverage amplifies gains and losses equally.

Why trade shares with us?

0% commission on UK and European share CFDs

Trade commission-free on 2,500 UK and European shares and ETFs (excludes Greek shares).

Professional research

Free access to quantitative equity analysis from Morningstar².

Minimal slippage

Minimise the potential for slippage thanks to our fully automated, ultra-fast execution speed 0.0030¹.

No partial fills

All orders are fully executed without dealer intervention, regardless of your trading size.

Dedicated customer service

Experienced customer service available to support you in your trading

Trade on baskets of shares

Spread your risk with our share basket CFDs - mini portfolios of stocks built around popular themes and growing trends.

Powerful technology you can rely on

To trade with us, you choose a CFD account that suits the platform you want to use.

Standard CFD account provides access to our proprietary and award-winning Next Generation platform, available on PC and mobile. This account can also be linked to TradingView.

To trade on Metatrader 4, you must create a separate MT4 CFD account. This account is only compatible with MT4 and does not provide access to Next Generation or TradingView.

Note: MetaTrader 4 only offers trading in currencies, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

Read more below about the platforms we offer and find out which one best suits your trading style.

2025 WINNER

Best Mobile Trading Platform

ADVFN International Financial Awards

Mobile app

Get the functionality of our web platform in your pocket with mobile-optimised charting, full order-ticket features and real-time alerts.

Web platform

We've invested over £100m into our award-winning platform³, creating pioneering technology that suits all styles of trading.

Open a demo accountMore on our web platform

platform

TradingView

Research with TradingView, trade with us

TradingView

Connect your CMC Markets account to TradingView and trade on its world- renowned charting platform, used by over 90 million traders and investors.

Open an accountLink your account

What other traders are saying about CMC Markets

As a financial services pioneer, we‘ve got the expertise allied to over 35 years‘ industry experience. That‘s why 2 million+ global traders and investors put their confidence in us.⁴

User FriendUser Friendly Platform / Easy to Use / Nice charts ly Platform / Easy to Use /…User Friendly Platform / Easy to Use / Nice charts M D Khorasani,2 hours ago

great chartsgreat chartsYves Larochelle,yesterday

like numbersnumberslike numbersAlbert,2 days ago

So easy to useSo easy to use, no irritating complication like I’ve experienced on other platform, I certain that I’m sticking with them…Millie,3 days ago

I use CMC for spread bettingI use CMC for spread betting. It’s pretty easy to use. Like any leveraged trading platform, it’s easy to take a lot of risk! Easy to use,3 days ago

very easy platform quick to move around…very easy platform quick to move around user friendly easy to learn comfortable to use Yunus Luqmani,5 days ago

New hereNew here, and finding my way around and looking to the futureRobert Patterson,5 days ago

Prefect dataPrefect dataKhalil,7 days ago

Good simple to use appGood simple to use appDIPA LAKHMAN,22 October

I like it because it’s easy to trade or…I like it because it’s easy to trade or make deposit or withdraw and quick login and logout and no extra charges Afsin,22 October

Shares trading costs

Trade CFDs on 15,000 shares with low commission, and get exposure to the world's largest companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and many more.

PRODUCT	PRICE	DAY	WEEK	TREND	Holding Cost Buy Overnight	Holding Cost Sell Overnight	MARGIN RATE