Indices trading

Indices are a measure of a section of shares in the stock market, created by combining the value of several stocks to create one aggregate value. Major financial indices include the Dow Jones Industrial Average, FTSE 100, CAC 40, and DAX. The Dow Jones index, for example, represents 30 large publicly-listed companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

You can start trading on indices by opening a live account. If you would like to practise your index trading strategy first, you can open a demo account to trade with virtual funds.

One of the features of spread betting and CFD trading is that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of your position – the initial margin requirement – to open a trade, known as trading on leverage. Trading on leverage amplifies your profits and losses equally, so it's important to manage your risk.

When you spread bet or trade CFDs on indices via our platform, you don't buy or sell the underlying index. Instead, you're taking a position on whether you think the index will go up or down.

With spread betting, you buy or sell an amount per point movement for the index instrument you're trading, such as £5 per point. This is known as your stake. 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.

While you can trade on leverage, meaning you only need to put up a minor percentage of the overall trade’s value, any profit or loss is based on the full value of the trade. As a retail client, you can never lose more than the amount in your account, which is known as negative balance protection. See the major global indices you can trade with us.

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

Yes, CMC Markets UK plc (registration number 173730) is fully authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Retail client money is held in segregated client bank accounts and money held on behalf of clients is distributed across a range of major banks, which are regularly assessed against our risk criteria.

Under the FCA's Client Money rules, we're required to segregate client money (unless you agree with us otherwise) from CMC's own funds. The funds held in segregated bank accounts do not belong to CMC, and will be held in a way that enables it to be identified as client money. Learn more about client money regulations

Our income primarily comes from our spreads, while other fees, such as overnight holding costs, also make a contribution to our overall revenue.