Global forex trading with tight spreads

We offer over 60 major, minor and exotic fx pairs - including EURUSD spreads from 0.0 pips with 1:500 leverage on Premier accounts.

CFD (or ‘contract for difference’) trading involves different types of contracts covering a diverse set of financial instruments such as indices and commodities - whereas forex refers to pure currency pair trading.

Another way of looking at it is that forex is mostly driven by global events and CFDs are mostly impacted by the supply/demand of the performance of underlying instruments. However, all instruments will be affected by multiple factors and can also be impacted by unprecedented events. There is no fixed guide to trading, so we always recommend seeking independent advice and keeping a close eye on all your open trades.

Anyone from any background can trade online – all that’s required is a verified bank account and sufficient funds for starting to place trades. We support all levels of traders with tiered accounts, dedicated managers, multilingual customer support and competitive pricing.

A rolling future is a contract that doesn’t expire, instead, at the date of the futures expiry (“rollover date”) - your positions are automatically rolled to the next contract month. Rolled over contracts result in an adjustment which will be added or subtracted to/from your cash balance (minus the spread).

This will appear on your statement as “{Symbol}futures rollover adjustment”.

Example:

Currently, EURUSDfuture is priced from the June futures contract.

The rollover date for EURUSDfuture is 14 June. On this day the contract price will roll from June to September (it’s a quarterly contract).

EOD prices on rollover date: EURUSD June futures = 1.11000

EURUSD September futures = 1.11720

At EOD (17h00 NY time) on 14 June the price of the EURUSDfuture will change from 1.11000 to 1.11720

Ahmed is long 10 lots of EURUSDfuture from 1.10500

Just before EOD on 14 June Ahmed’s position is showing a +$5,000 open profit (using the price of 1.11000 to mark to market).

At EOD (17h00 NY time) on 14 June the price of the EURUSDfuture will change from 1.11000 to 1.11720.

At EOD Ahmed’s position is showing a +$12,200 open profit (using the price of 1.11720 to mark to market). This is an additional +$7,200 of profit.

At the same time, Ahmed will have a “EURUSDfuture rollover adjustment” of -$7,200 - $200 (difference between 1.11000 and 1.11720 - the spread) = -$7,400 removed from his cash balance.

A pip is a standardised unit for the smallest amount by which a currency quote can change. It stands for ‘Point in Percentage’.

A pip is usually $0.0001 for USD-related currency pairs. There are 10 points to every 1 pip. For example, if the EUR/USD currency pair moves from 1.1000 to 1.1050, it has moved 50 pips.

Tracking minor price movements in currency pairs is critical in forex trading as it equips traders with insight into price movements and helps them calculate profit and loss, which is essential to manage risk. 

When traders want to track the most minor price movements as precisely as possible, they resort to another unit called a fractional pip, or pipette, which is 1/10 of a pip. Given the fast-paced price movements that forex markets experience, pips and pipettes are invaluable for strategic trade.

In forex trading, the term forex swap generally refers to an agreement between two parties to exchange currencies at a predetermined rate, often to manage loan repayments or hedge against exchange rate fluctuations.

On the other hand, a swap fee is the cost (or profit) you pay or receive for holding a forex position overnight. This fee is determined by the interest rate difference between the two currencies in the pair you are trading. The swap fee can either be positive or negative, depending on whether the currency you are buying has a higher or lower interest rate than the currency you are selling.

Leverage in forex trading allows you to control a larger position with a smaller amount of money. It’s essentially borrowing funds from a broker to increase your position, which magnifies potential gains or losses.

When using leverage, brokers typically require an initial margin, which is a percentage of the total trade value. For example, with 1:20 leverage, you could invest $10 but control a trade worth of $200.

While leverage can amplify profits, it also increases the risk of losses. Make sure you understand your risk appetite and try to minimise your losses by using stop loss orders or other risk management strategies.

Spread in forex trading is the difference between the buying price and selling price of a currency pair. The buying price is referred to as the bid price, and the selling price is the ask price. Traders use pips to measure the spread and determine their next move. 

In practice, if EUR/USD has a bid price of 1.55310 and an ask price of 1.55313, the spread would be 0.3 pips.

There are two main types of spreads in forex trading:

Fixed spreads: This is when the spread remains constant despite market conditions.

Variable/floating spreads: The spread fluctuates based on market variations in supply and demand.

In forex trading, an order block refers to a specific price range where there has been significant buying or selling activity. It's essentially a zone on the chart where large orders (often from banks, hedge funds or other big market players) are placed, creating a point of interest for future price movement.

This concentration of large orders can result in price fluctuations as it represents strong buying or selling pressure. To prevent sharp price changes and potential disruption of the market, these large market players break their orders into smaller blocks so they can buy or sell a foreign currency pair without significantly impacting their price.

In forex trading, equity is the total value of your trading account at any given moment. It includes the balance of your account (the amount of money you initially deposited or have earned through trading) plus or minus any unrealised profits or losses from open trades.
For instance, if you have $1000 in your account and incurred a loss of $200 from your open positions, your equity would be $800. Similarly, if your open trades brought you a profit of $200, your equity would be $1200.

Whether you want to take on new trades or keep your positions open, your broker may require a minimum level of equity. Having insufficient equity can affect your margin levels and leverage as well.