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Shares trading
Trade and invest in 16,000+ international shares, and get ahead of the competition with longer trading hours.
Start trading today. Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccountenquiries.uk@ig.com. We’re available from 8am to 6pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
Contact us: 0800 195 3100
Start trading today. Call 0800 195 3100 or email newaccountenquiries.uk@ig.com. We’re available from 8am to 6pm (UK time), Monday to Friday.
Contact us: 0800 195 3100
How to buy and sell stocks online
There are two ways to buy and sell stocks online with us. You can speculate on share prices using our leveraged trading products, or invest in stocks directly via our share dealing service.
Shares trading
CFDs and spread betting are leveraged, meaning you can gain full exposure to shares while only putting down a small deposit. While this magnifies possible profits, it does the same for losses.
They also enable you to buy and sell shares online without ever owning the underlying asset. This has tax benefits and means you can trade both rising and falling markets.1
Investing in shares
Our share dealing service enables you to invest in company shares with a view to selling them for a profit at a later date. When you buy shares, you can also earn an income from any dividend payments and gain shareholder rights.
With our share dealing service, you can buy and sell US shares commission-free, and UK shares for as little as £3 per trade.2
Trade shares on margin
Gain full exposure for just a small initial deposit with our low margins
Pay less tax
Pay no tax on spread bets and offset losses against profits for tax purposes with CFDs1
Access 16,000+ markets
Get exposure to a wide range of popular UK, US and international stocks
Discover unique opportunities
Trade out-of-hours on over 70+ US stocks, exclusively with us
See the difference in shares costs
Compare the average cost of buying, holding and selling shares with our spread betting, CFD trading and share dealing accounts.
- Tesla Motors Inc.
- Apple Inc.
- Lloyds Banking Group PLC
- BHP Group PLC
- Nintendo Co. Ltd
- Volkswagen
Tesla Motors Inc.
Buy 17 shares at $750 with a FX rate of 1.305 (GBP/USD)
| Spread betting | CFD trading | Share dealing | |
| Action | Buy £0.13/pt | Buy 17 shares | Buy 17 shares |
| Capital required to open | £2000 | $2550 | $12,750 |
| Charge to open | £0.52 (spread) | $15.00 (commission) | $0** |
| Round trip FX conversion fee | - | * | $127.50 |
| Overnight funding | £1.12 | $1.48 | - |
| Charge to close | £0.52 (spread) | $15.00 (commission) | $0** |
| Total fees | £2.16 | £24.24 | £97.70 |
This information is correct as of 10/01/2020 and with the corresponding FX conversion rates.
* A 0.5% FX conversion is applied to any profits or losses from CFD positions.
** Trade in your share dealing account three or more times in the previous month to qualify for our best commission rates. Please note published rates are valid up to £25,000 notional value. See our full list of share dealing charges and fees.
Apple Inc.
Buy 42 shares at $308 with a FX rate of 1.305 (GBP/USD)
| Spread betting | CFD trading | Share dealing | |
| Action | Buy £0.32/pt | Buy 42 shares | Buy 42 shares |
| Capital required to open | £1982.53 | $2587.20 | $12,936.00 |
| Charge to open | £1.28 (spread) | $15.00 (commission) | $0** |
| Round trip FX conversion fee | - | * | $129.36 |
| Overnight funding | £1.13 | $1.50 | - |
| Charge to close | £1.28 (spread) | $15.00 (commission) | $0** |
| Total fees | £3.69 | £24.26 | £99.13 |
This information is correct as of 10/01/2020 and with the corresponding FX conversion rates.
* A 0.5% FX conversion is applied to any profits or losses from CFD positions.
** Trade in your share dealing account three or more times in the previous month to qualify for our best commission rates. Please note published rates are valid up to £25,000 notional value. See our full list of share dealing charges and fees.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC
Buy 16,000 shares at 62.5p
| Spread betting | CFD trading | Share dealing | |
| Action | Buy £160/pt | Buy 16,000 shares | Buy 16,000 shares |
| Capital required to open | £2000.00 | £2000.00 | £10,000.00 |
| Charge to open | £10.00 (spread) | £10.00 (commission) | £3.00* (commission) |
| Round trip FX conversion fee | - | - | - |
| Overnight funding | £0.88 | £0.88 | - |
| Charge to close | £10.00 (spread) | £10.00 (commission) | £3.00* (commission) |
| Total fees | £20.88 | £20.88 | £6.00** |
This information is correct as of 10/01/2020.
* Place 10+ trades on UK shares in the previous month to qualify for a £3 commission rate. Please note published rates are valid up to £25,000 notional value. See our full list of share dealing charges and fees.
** While the surface cost for leveraged trading appears more, the benefit of spread betting or trading CFDs is their tax efficiency in the UK.1 Also, the minimum capital required to open a position is only a fifth of that needed for a share dealing position.
BHP Group PLC
Buy 476 shares at A$40 with a FX rate of 1.904 (AUD/GBP)
| Spread betting | CFD trading | Share dealing | |
| Action | Buy £2.50/pt | Buy 476 shares | Buy 476 shares |
| Capital required to open | £2000.00 | A$3808.00 | A$19,040.00 |
| Charge to open | £15.00 (spread) | $19.04 (commission) | $19.04 (commission) |
| Round trip FX conversion fee | - | * | $190.40 |
| Overnight funding | £0.88 | $1.78 | - |
| Charge to close | £15.00 (spread) | $19.04 (commission) | $19.04 (commission) |
| Total fees | £30.88 | £21.04 | £120.10 |
This information is correct as of 10/01/2020 and with the corresponding FX conversion rates.
* A 0.5% FX conversion is applied to any profits or losses from CFD positions.
Nintendo Co. Ltd
Buy 32 shares at ¥43470 with a FX rate of 143.25 (JPY/GBP)
| Spread betting | CFD trading | Share dealing | |
| Action | Buy £0.23/pt | Buy 32 shares | Buy 32 shares |
| Capital required to open | £2000.00 | ¥278,208.00 | ¥1,391,040.00 |
| Charge to open | £25.07 (spread) | ¥1,500.00 (commission) | We currently do not offer Japanese equities on share dealing accounts |
| Round trip FX conversion fee | - | * | We currently do not offer Japanese equities on share dealing accounts |
| Overnight funding | £0.88 | ¥93.30 | We currently do not offer Japanese equities on share dealing accounts |
| Charge to close | £25.07 (spread) | ¥1,500.00 (commission) | We currently do not offer Japanese equities on share dealing accounts |
| Total fees | £51.02 | £21.70 | We currently do not offer Japanese equities on share dealing accounts |
This information is correct as of 10/01/2020 and with the corresponding FX conversion rates.
* A 0.5% FX conversion is applied to any profits or losses from CFD positions.
Volkswagen
Buy 64 shares at €183.2 with a FX rate of 1.1746 (EUR/GBP)
| Spread betting | CFD trading | Share dealing | |
| Action | Buy £0.54/pt | Buy 64 shares | Buy 64 shares |
| Capital required to open | £2000.00 | €2344.96 | €11,724.80 |
| Charge to open | £9.72 (spread) | €10.00 (commission) | €10.00 (commission) |
| Round trip FX conversion fee | - | * | €117.25 |
| Overnight funding | £0.88 | €0.67 | - |
| Charge to close | £9.72 (spread) | €10.00 (commission) | €10.00 (commission) |
| Total fees | £20.32 | £17.68 | £116.93 |
This information is correct as of 10/01/2020 and with the corresponding FX conversion rates.
* A 0.5% FX conversion is applied to any profits or losses from CFD positions.
Trading vs investing: the differences in detail
Discover the differences between speculating on shares using spread bets or CFDs and investing via our share dealing service.
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Open a share trading account in minutes
Open a share trading account in minutes
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Deal seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed, award-winning trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With 45 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
Open a share trading account in minutes
Open a share trading account in minutes
Fast execution on a huge range of markets
Enjoy flexible access to more than 17,000 global markets, with reliable execution
Deal seamlessly, wherever you are
Trade on the move with our natively designed, award-winning trading app
Feel secure with a trusted provider
With 45 years of experience, we’re proud to offer a truly market-leading service
Popular stocks to watch
- UK stocks
- US stocks
- FANG stocks
- Cannabis stocks
Prices above are subject to our website terms and conditions. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
Prices above are subject to our website terms and conditions. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
Prices above are subject to our website terms and conditions. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
Prices above are subject to our website terms and conditions and are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 minutes.
And many more…
Use our market finder tool to see price charts, historical data, market sentiment and analysis on the stocks you’re interested in.
Can’t find what you need? Give us a call on 0800 4096789 and we’ll see if we can add it.
Grey market and IPO trading
Get in ahead of the competition with our exclusive ‘grey markets’, and trade before certain shares go public.3 This gives you the opportunity to speculate on a company’s market cap even before its IPO.
Grey market and IPO trading
Get in ahead of the competition with our exclusive ‘grey markets’, and trade before certain shares go public.3 This gives you the opportunity to speculate on a company’s market cap even before its IPO.
Shares trading costs and details
Take a look at the costs and charges of leveraged trading in the tables below. You can view non-leveraged share dealing fees here.
- Spread betting costs
- CFD trading costs
Margin
Spread bets are leveraged, so you can gain full exposure with just a small deposit, known as margin. This deposit isn’t actually a cost to you, but it can make a big difference to the affordability of your position. Your profit and loss are based on the full value of the position – not just the margin – so leverage magnifies your profits, as well as your losses.
| Market | Retail | Leverage equivalent | Professional | Leverage equivalent |
| Apple | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| Barclays PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| BHP Billiton PLC (LSE) | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| GlaxoSmithKline PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| Vodafone Group PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
Spreads
The cost of a shares trade is included in the ‘spread’ – the difference between the buy and sell prices that are wrapped around the underlying market price. We work to keep our spreads among the lowest in the business.
| Market | Minimum spread |
| Apple | 0.10% |
| Lloyds Banking Group PLC | 0.10% |
| Deutsche Bank AG | 0.10% |
| Westpac Banking Corporation | 0.10% |
Margin
CFDs are leveraged, so you can gain full exposure with just a small deposit, known as margin. This deposit isn’t actually a cost to you, but it can make a big difference to the affordability of your position. Your profit and loss are based on the full value of the position – not just the margin – so leverage magnifies your profits, as well as your losses.
| Market | Retail | Leverage equivalent | Professional | Leverage equivalent |
| Apple | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| Barclays PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| BHP Billiton PLC (LSE) | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| GlaxoSmithKline PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
| Vodafone Group PLC | 20% | 1:5 | 4.5% | 1:22 |
Commission
If you trade shares using CFDs, you’ll be dealing at the real market price. Instead of being charged a spread, you’ll pay a small commission to open and close your position.
| Market | Commission per side from | Min charge (online) | Min charge (phone) |
| UK | 0.10% | £10 | £15 |
| US | 2 cents per share | $15 | $25 |
| Euro | 0.10% | €10 | €25 |
Trade shares wherever you are
Seize your opportunity on the UK’s best web-based platform and mobile trading app:4
- Web-based platform
- Mobile trading app
Seize your opportunity with our clean deal ticket, clear price charts, and in-platform news and analysis.
Take a position wherever you are, and receive trading alerts and signals on the go.
What is share trading?
With us, ’share trading’ means speculating on share prices without owning the shares themselves. ’Share dealing’, on the other hand, means buying and taking ownership of a company’s shares.
How to trade and invest in shares
Open an account to start trading or investing in shares. Once you’re set up, you can decide which shares you want to trade, research the company and industry it’s in, and then open your first position.
DMA for the experienced trader
Our direct market access (DMA) service enables you to trade CFDs on the underlying market price, and gain greater visibility and depth.
Latest shares news
Open a share trading account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Open a share trading account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Open a share trading account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Open a share trading account in minutes
It's free to open an account, takes less than five minutes, and there's no obligation to fund or trade.
Try these next
Trade 70+ US stocks after hours with us
Get in at the ground floor, trading IPOs with our exclusive grey markets
Spread bet or trade CFDs on thousands of exchange traded funds
1Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.2Tax laws are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Tax law may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.
2Commission rates differ for UK and US shares. Trade in your share dealing account three or more times in the previous month to qualify for our best commission rates. Please note published rates are valid up to £25,000 notional value. See our full list of share dealing charges and fees.
3We do not offer grey markets on all IPOs.
4Best trading platform as awarded at the ADVFN International Financial Awards and Professional Trader Awards 2019. Best trading app as awarded at the ADVFN International Financial Awards 2020.
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