Stock indices provide the most popular form of CFD trading, with a huge range of indices across the globe to select from, including our own Australia 200, the UK's blue-chip FTSE 100, the Dow Jones and the Nikkei 225.
A Stock Index is a statistical indicator measuring the combined value of underlying stocks within a particular index. In simple terms, stock indices across the globe will move higher or lower depending on financial investor reaction to a range of factors, such as a company reporting updates or making economic announcements, or as a result of political decisions. A change in any constituent stock of a given index is reflected in a change in the overall value of that index.
CFD trading on indices allows you to take a wider view of a collection of stocks, rather than taking a view on the prospects of an individual company's shares.
Types of Index CFDs
You can choose between a position on the immediate market direction across a whole market, or longer-term futures. CFD trading on index futures with IG Markets has clear advantages when compared with trading the futures themselves:
- Our minimum contract sizes are usually smaller than the minimum transaction size in the equivalent futures market
- We quote prices on the most popular stock index futures even when the underlying markets are closed. Take a CFD position in the Australia 200, FTSE or Wall Street 24-hours a day, between Monday and Saturday morning.