Index trading

There's no cost when opening a live spread betting or CFD account. You can also view prices and use tools such as charts, Reuters news or Morningstar quantitative equity reports, free of charge. However, you will need to deposit funds in your account to place a trade. You can find out more about the costs of placing 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.

Yes, your eligible deposits with CMC Markets are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensations Scheme (FSCS), the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. If CMC Markets ever went into liquidation, retail clients would have their share of segregated money returned, minus the administrator's costs in handling and distributing these funds. Any shortfall of funds up to £85,000 may be compensated under the FSCS.

As a CMC client, your money is held separately from CMC Markets' own funds, so that under property, trust and insolvency law, your money is protected. Therefore your money is unavailable to general creditors of the firm, if the firm fails.

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

We never aim to profit from our clients' losses. Our aim is to build long-term relationships by providing the best possible trading experience through our technology and customer service.

You can trade on 12,000 markets when you spread bet with CMC Markets. See a list of all our popular markets and instruments.

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. Learn more about indices

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

One of the advantages of spread betting and CFD trading 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.

Spread betting allows you to trade tax-free on a wide range of financial markets 24 hours a day, from Sunday nights through to Friday nights. Trade on your phone, tablet, PC or Mac on a wide range of instruments using leverage. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.

When you spread bet or trade CFDs on indices on 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, your profits and losses are based on the full value of the trade. As a retail client, you will never lose more than the amount in your account.

See our full list of major global indices​.