Indices trading
Take your position on over 80 international indices1 with the world’s No.1 spread betting and CFD provider2.
Call +35 318 009 95362 or email newaccounts.uk@ig.com to talk about opening an account.
Why trade indices with us?
Seize exclusive opportunities on more 24-hour indices
Benefit from our deep liquidity – increasing the chance of your larger trades being accepted
Get spreads from 1 point on the FTSE 100, 1.2 on the Germany 40 and 0.4 on the US 500
Deal on our award-winning platforms and mobile apps³
Give yourself an edge with weekend trading⁴ on key indices
Choose between over-the-counter (OTC) and listed products to trade indices
More index trading hours, more opportunity
We offer over 40 more weekly trading hours than our nearest competitors, so you can:
- Open or edit positions when other traders can’t
- Hedge your weekday positions with a weekend one on the same market
- Act on breaking news, macroeconomic events and earnings reports as they happen
- FTSE 100
- Germany 40
- Wall Street
| Provider | Weekly trading hours (out of 168 total hours) |
| IG | 158 |
| eToro | 100 |
| CMC markets | 114 |
| City Index | 113 |
| Provider | Weekly trading hours (out of 168 total hours) |
| IG | 158 |
| eToro | 97.5 |
| CMC markets | 113.5 |
| City Index | 113 |
| Provider | Weekly trading hours (out of 168 total hours) |
| IG | 158 |
| eToro | 114.5 |
| CMC markets | 115 |
| City Index | 113.5 |
This data is based on analysis of the FTSE 100, Germany 40 and Wall Street offerings from our UK competitors’ websites – it’s correct to the best of our ability as of 23 July 2024. Some trading hours have been rounded up or down to the nearest half hour. This table is for comparative purposes only, and the data is subject to change.
Discover our indices markets
- Popular indices
- New indices
- Weekend indices
Find an index to trade
Search real-time prices, find your next trade.
Ways to trade indices with us
When you trade indices with us, you’ll use spread bets, or contracts for difference (CFDs) to gain exposure to price movements. Below are some of the key features of each.
Spread betting
-
Tax-free - keep 100% of your profits*
-
Zero commission and flexible position sizing - from 3p per point
-
Trade in € to avoid FX risk or charges
CFD trading
-
No stamp duty; CGT applies but losses can be offset against profits for tax purposes*
-
Commission-free on indices
-
Trade in underlying market currency
* Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the Republic of Ireland.
| Spread betting | CFD trading | |
| Main benefits | Profits are tax-free in the UK5 | Tax-deductible losses are useful for hedging5 |
| Accessible to | All clients | All clients |
| Traded in | EUR (€) or other base currency per point of movement | Contracts |
| Tax status | No capital gains tax (CGT) or stamp duty5 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Offset losses against profits for tax purposes5 |
| Commission | Commission-free; you’ll pay a spread | Commission-free; you’ll pay a spread |
| Platforms | Web platform, mobile trading app and MT4 | Web platform, mobile trading app and MT4 |
| Learn more | Learn more |
What are indices?
Indices measure the performance of a group of shares that are listed on a stock market.
Because there are no underlying physical assets to exchange, indices are traded with financial derivatives like spread bets and CFDs.
How can you trade indices in Ireland?
- Decide how you want to trade: spread betting or CFD trading
- Create a trading account with us
- Learn about indices, and find the index you want to trade
- Take steps to manage your risk
- Open, monitor and close your position
Benefits of index trading
- Speculate on a group of shares for less than the cost of trading them individually
- Get exposure to an entire sector or economy at once
- Hedge against a drop in the value of your share portfolio
Risks of index trading
- When trading with us, your index trade is opened using leverage6
- Taking a position on an entire sector or economy subjects your trade to market risk
- Hedging can be a useful way to limit your losses, but it doesn’t guarantee protection against potential losses
Indices costs and details
Margin
Spread betting, and CFD trading enables you to take a position with leverage.6 The margin required to open a position depends on the market, but the profit or loss of a trade is calculated based on the full size of your position and could substantially outweigh your margin amount.7
| Market | Retail margin | Leverage equivalent |
Wall Street* |
5% |
1:20 |
Germany 40 |
5% |
1:20 |
US Tech 100* |
5% |
1:20 |
FTSE 100 |
5% |
1:20 |
US 500* |
5% |
1:20 |
Hong Kong HS 50 |
10% |
1:10 |
Japan 225 |
5% |
1:20 |
Weekend UK 100 Cash |
5% |
1:20 |
Weekend Germany 40 Cash |
5% |
1:20 |
Spreads
A market’s spread varies depending on market conditions – it’s what you pay us to execute your spread bet or CFD index trade. We calculate it by determining the difference between the current buy and sell prices of a market. We’re constantly working to keep our spreads among the lowest in the industry.
| Market | Spread betting minimum spread | CFD trading minimum spread | MT4 |
| Wall Street | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Germany 40 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| US Tech 100 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| FTSE 100 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| US 500 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Hong Kong HS 50 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Japan 225 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Weekend UK 100 Cash |
8 | 8 | - |
| Weekend Germany 40 Cash | 15 | 15 | - |
* Wall Street, the US Tech 100 and the US 500 are available to trade via spread bets, and CFDs.
Trade indices on the Ireland’s best trading platforms3
Seize your next opportunity on our award-winning platforms and mobile trading apps.3
- Web-based platform
- Mobile trading app
- MetaTrader4
Take control of your indices trading with our clear price charts, in-platform news, analysis and more across our account types.
Take a position wherever you are, receive trading alerts and analyse price action with charting tools across account types.
Automate your index spread bet or CFD positions with MT4, one of the most popular third-party trading platforms.
Get the latest indices news
-
Nasdaq remains above key support as EUR/USD recovers and WTI tries to stem fall
2025-10-15T09:24:55+0100 -
S&P 500 slips again as USD/JPY rally stalls and silver price hits new high
2025-10-14T09:29:40+0100
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1 We offer 81 indices markets for CFD trading, and 69 indices markets for spread betting.
2 Based on revenue (published financial statements, 2023).
3 Spread betting and CFD trading platform and app: best platform for the active trader, best multi-platform provider and best finance app as awarded at the 2024 ADVFN International Financial Awards. US options and futures platform: best options trading platform as awarded at the 2024 ADVFN International Finance Awards; best overall options trading platform of 2024 as awarded by Investopedia (criteria, evaluation and ranking determined by Investopedia); No.1 desktop options trading platform and No.1 desktop futures trading platform as awarded at the 2024 StockBrokers.com awards.
4 Weekend trading hours on indices are from 8am on Saturday to 10.40pm on Sunday (UK time). Positions still open at 10.40pm (UK time) on a Sunday will roll over into regular weekday positions (with any attached stops-loss and take-profit orders remaining in place).
5 Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the Republic of Ireland.
6 Leveraged products are complex financial instruments, with which an upfront deposit – called margin– is used to open a larger trade. Your margin will only be worth a certain percentage of your trade, but potential profits and losses will be calculated based on the total position size, not your margin. This makes leveraged trading inherently risky, and it should never be approached without a trading strategy and adequate risk management measures in place.
Connect with us
Investing comes with risk and the price of shares can go down as well as up, and you are not guaranteed to get back the amount that you originally invested.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Options are complex financial instruments and your capital is at risk. Losses may be extremely rapid.
CFD, spread betting and options are accounts provided by IG Europe GmbH (a company incorporated in the Federal Republic of Germany and registered in the Frankfurt Trade Register under number HRB 115624 with registered office at Westhafenplatz 1, 60327 Frankfurt, Germany). IG Europe GmbH (Register number 148759) is authorised and regulated by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht and Deutsche Bundesbank. The Swedish branch of IG Europe GmbH is regulated by the Finansinspektionen. The share dealing offer provided to IG Europe GmbH clients by another IG Group entity based in UK (IGXX) is only available to residents of Ireland only.
Spread betting is available to residents of Ireland only.
If you’re unhappy with our service please let us know. You can find full details of our complaints process here.