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Forex trading
As the world’s most-traded financial market, foreign exchange presents a wealth of opportunities for those who can harness its inherent volatility. Open a forex trading account with the UK’s No.1 retail provider1 and use our range of powerful platforms to take advantage of movements in currency prices.
Why trade forex with IG?
Give your forex trading an edge with our accessible, easy-to-use platform and apps.
Negative balance protection ensures that your account never stays below zero.2
Get friendly, expert support 24 hours a day from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday.
Identify FX opportunities on clear, fast charts as standard, and deepen your analysis with ProRealTime.
Get peace of mind trading with the world’s No.1 spread betting and CFD provider.3
Open an account quickly and easily – you could be set up and trading forex today.
Ways to trade forex with IG
| Spread betting | CFDs | DMA (Forex Direct) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main benefits: | Profits are tax-free in the UK.4 | Tax-deductible losses are useful for hedging.4 | Increased market transparency and order control. |
| Accessible to: | All clients. | All clients. | Professional clients only.5 |
| Traded in: | £ (or other base currency) per point. | Contracts. | Lots. |
| Tax status: | No capital gains tax (CGT) or stamp duty.4 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Losses can be offset as a tax deducation.4 | No stamp duty, but you do pay CGT. Losses can be offset as a tax deducation.4 |
| Commission: | Commission-free. | Commission-free for FX. | Commission-free for FX. |
| Platforms: | Web, mobile app and advanced platforms. | Web, mobile app and advanced platforms. | L2 dealer, mobile app, terminals and APIs. |
| Demo account: | Yes. | Yes. | Yes. |
| Learn more | Learn more | Learn more |
What is forex trading?
Forex trading, foreign exchange trading or currency trading is the buying and selling of currencies on the forex market with the aim of making a profit.
Forex is the world’s most-traded financial market, with transactions worth trillions of dollars taking place every day.
What are the benefits?
- Go long or short
- 24-hour trading
- High liquidity
- Regular opportunities
- Trade on leverage
- Wide range of FX pairs
How do I trade forex?
- Decide how you’d like to trade forex
- Learn how the forex market works
- Open a forex account
- Open, monitor and close your first position
Open an FX trading account today
Opening a forex trading account with IG is quick and simple. You could be set up and trading in minutes. Or to practise trading forex risk-free, try a forex demo account.
Fill in a simple online form
We’ll ask a few questions about your trading
Get instant verification
We can usually verify your ID in just a few seconds
Fund your account and trade
You can withdraw your funds easily, whenever you like
How much does forex trading cost?
Your key payment for trading forex is the spread, essentially our commission for executing your trade. We work to keep our spreads among the lowest in the business.
Spot FX |
IG spreads | Forex Direct (DMA) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min. spread | Av. spread6 | Av. spread7 | |
| EUR/USD | 0.6 | 0.75 | 0.165 |
| AUD/USD | 0.6 | 0.76 | 0.334 |
| USD/JPY | 0.7 | 0.76 | 0.242 |
| EUR/GBP | 0.9 | 1.19 | 0.54 |
| GBP/USD | 0.9 | 1.14 | 0.589 |
| EUR/JPY | 1.5 | 1.63 | 0.678 |
| USD/CHF | 1.5 | 1.68 | 0.387 |
Opening a forex trading account with IG is free and simple, gives you access to over 80 FX pairs, and carries no obligation to fund or trade.
You can trade in smaller sizes for your first month, to help keep costs down while you get comfortable.
Discover our forex markets
Find your next opportunity in our huge range of over 80 major, minor and exotic forex pairs.
Forex trading platforms
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Intuitive web platform Discover a clear, smart way to trade forex that’s intuitive and requires no downloads.
-
MetaTrader 4 Build forex trading algorithms to execute automatically, even if your machine is off.
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L2 dealer Get increased control over your forex CFD trades with our DMA platform.
-
Mobile apps Trade forex on the move, so you need never miss an opportunity.
Choose the UK’s No.1 retail FX provider1
IG is home to more retail forex traders in the UK than any other forex trading. Why trade with anyone but the No.1?
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Powerful forex charting Zero in on price action with our clean, fast charts, deepen your analysis with advanced ProRealTime and Autochartist packages
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Managing your FX risks Mitigate against forex trading risk with our range of stop and limit orders, and keep an eye on forex prices with customisable alerts
1 By number of primary relationships with FX traders (Investment Trends UK Leveraged Trading Report released August 2018).
2 Negative balance protection applies to trading-related debt only, and is not available to professional traders.
3 Based on published financial statements, February 2018.
4 Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
5 The advertised offering is only available to individual clients capable of obtaining ‘professional’ status. This requires experience of trading relevant products on your own account above a certain size, experience of working within the financial sector for at least one year in a relevant position and/or a personal investment portfolio worth at least €500,000.
6 Average spread (Monday 12am – Friday 10pm UK time) for the 12 weeks ending 19 November 2018. For our minimum spreads, please see our forex spread bet and CFD details.
7 Time-weighted (10pm – 8pm UK time) average spread by trade (quoted to three decimal places), February 2019. There is also a commission charge for Forex Direct.
Help and support
Get answers about your account or our services.
Or ask about opening an account on 0800 195 3100 or newaccounts.uk@ig.com.
We're here 24hrs a day from 8am Saturday to 10pm Friday.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 81% 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. Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.