FUTURES AND CASH INDICES TRADING
GLOBAL INDICES S&P 500, FTSE, NIKKEI, DAX, NASDAQ
Reap the valuable benefits of index trading!
Futures and Cash Indices trading with easyMarkets allows you to trade both upwards and downwards price movements. Enjoy tight spreads and no expiry dates so you can close your trade whenever you want with our Cash Indices! If you are interested in higher spreads and a longer-term market outlook, you may find our Future Indices more preferrable. Experience the freedom of choosing the trading index that suits your strategy.
Find out why index trading is a beloved trading strategy.
Indices Trading with easyMarkets
EU, UK, US, AU, Swiss and Asian Indices
Each market has its own variables, opening hours and level of mobility. Choose the best market for you or trade on multiple markets. easyMarkets gives you access to trade globally.
dealCancellation*
Want to make a bigger trade than usual, but you’re afraid the market might move against you? Well for a small fee you can protect your trade with dealCancellation*.
Exceptional Trading Conditions**
Fixed spreads, negative balance protection, free guarantee stop loss and take profit means you will experience exceptional, industry leading trading and conditions.
Trade Anywhere
easyMarkets Trading App allows you to trade on any device anywhere you have an internet connection. Set up price notification so you know exactly what the market is doing.
Index Trading hours
When can you trade Indices?
Indices
November 03 to March 09, 2025 - GMT Time
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Daily Break
Index Trading for beginners
What are indices trading or stock index trading? Indices trading is the process of buying and selling on what is called a “basket of stocks” or a combination of stocks. The great thing is that you don’t even have to own the stocks to be able to trade them. Some indices follow a certain category of stock – for example the Nasdaq is composed of non-financial companies – Apple, Amazon, Alphabet Class A (Google), Intel and more.
Indices Trading benefits
The most obvious benefit of indices trading is diversity. The most financial advisors recommend trading the index as a risk management strategy. Volatility is averaged out amongst the various companies, whereas if you are invested in just one, your entire investment is exposed to the volatility of just one company’s stock.
Another reason to trade on indices is that the stock markets are usually positively correlated to the health of an economy. If a country’s economy is up, so is its stock market – there are instruments though that move inversely to the health of an economy.
Safe haven currencies and precious metals usually move against the health of an economy, as investors flock to them to keep their assets safe during market volatility.
Which Index is the best for you?
Although we can’t give investing advice , one thing holds true no matter what you trade: knowledge is power. Choosing an extremely popular index such the S&P500 or the Nikkei means you will have a deep well of information available to you, because not only will you have the primarily source reporting on the performance of the index but most other major financial publications report on them also.
Also, many of the popular indices are generally composed out of popular company stock, which are more likely to be regularly reported on.
Most popular Indices to trade
Dow Jones Industrial Average
One of the oldest and best-known stock market indexes in the world, the DJIA tracks the price of 30 large, publicly traded US companies. Also known as the US30.
S&P 500
A basket of the 500 largest US stocks, representing around 80% of total US market capitalisation. The S&P500 is seen as a good indicator of how the US economy is performing.
DAX 40
Tracks 40 major German companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The DAX 40 index, or Germany 40, is considered a barometer of the German economy.
Nikkei 225
Japan’s premier stock market index, the Nikkei consists of 225 top-rated companies from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, including prominent Japanese brands such as Toyota and Panasonic.
EURO STOXX 50
Includes the 50 largest blue-chip companies in the Eurozone. The EURO STOXX 50 is viewed by investors as a health indicator for the European economy.
FTSE 100
Tracks the top 100 stocks trading on the London Stock Exchange. Although UK-based, many FTSE 100 companies are globally focused and earn revenue outside the UK, therefore it does not closely follow the UK economy.
Hang Seng
Tracks the performance of the 50 largest companies by market capitalisation on the Hong Kong stock market. The Hang Seng is also linked to the Chinese economy, and the wider Asian market.
ASX 200
Australia’s primary benchmark index, tracking the top 200 stocks on the Australian Securities Exchange. Financials and materials are the biggest sectors in the ASX 200, and can therefore affect its performance.
Trade Cash Indices with easyMarkets
Uncover a whole new scope for investment and irresistible benefits! Enjoy ultra-tight spreads and no expiry dates by trading some of the world’s most in-demand cash indices on the easyMarkets platform of your choice – including our app, website, on TradingView, MT4, and MT5!
Access highly desirable cash indices from around the globe, like the NASDAQ 100 Cash Index (NQC), the SP 500 Cash Index (SPC), and the Dow Jones Cash Index (DJC). Trade cash indices with easyMarkets to close your trade whenever you want, benefit from less volatile price movements, and gain exposure to all sectors of the economy.
Interested?
Frequently Asked Questions
Indices are useful because they help investors gauge the general state of a country’s economy. Investors in the US, for example, may look to indices like the S&P 500 to gain an understanding of how the US economy is performing. Likewise, UK investors may look to the FTSE 100 and German investors may look to the DAX 30.
You can’t invest in indices directly, but you can go short or long on an index through a CFD product.
To short an index means to sell the product in the anticipation that the price will fall.
To go long on an index means to buy the product in the anticipation that the price will rise.
The great benefit of shorting or longing CFD indices is that you can trade on the price movements in either direction.
If you’re also a more risk-averse trader, then index trading can be a good option for you. Stock index CFDs usually experience smaller price fluctuations compared to individual shares, for example. This is because indices are more diversified, which leaves you less exposed to individual company risks.
A price movement in an index results from the price movements of the companies within it.
Various factors can cause price movements, including economic data, geopolitical events, and market sentiment. Usually, when investors are bullish, there will be more buyers than sellers, leading to an increase in stock prices. However, when investors are bearish, it usually results in more sellers than buyers, which will lead to stock prices falling.
Simply put, if more stocks within an index are declining in price, the value of an index will drop. Conversely, if more stocks are rising in price, it will cause an index to jump in value.
There is no one set way to calculate the value of an index. However, most indices either use a price-weighted or value-weighted formula. To understand how they differ, let’s look at them both more closely.
- Price-weighted index
- Value-weighted index
To calculate the index trading price, each company is weighted according to its share price. As price is the determining factor, the larger priced stocks have more of an impact on how an index performs than lower priced stocks.
The most notable index which follows a price-weight formula is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), an index that comprises the 30 largest companies in the US. The value is calculated by taking the average price of all 30 securities and dividing the figure by a divisor.
To further understand how weighting is determined, let’s look at an example:
If Apple’s stock went from $135 to $145, because it commands a higher price valuation, it would move the Dow Jones index more than, say, Intel’s stock going from $60 to $70, as higher prices are more significant than percentage movements.
Many of the significant indices like the S&P 500, NASDAQ and Russell 2000 are value-weighted. In this type of index, each company's weighting is based on its market capitalization.
The following formula is used to calculate the weighting:
The stock price x the number of shares outstanding / market capitalization of all shares
Here is a brief example of how value-weighting works:
If Apple has 17.5 billion shares outstanding and trades at $135, then its weight in the value-weighted index is $2.36 trillion. But if Tesla is trading at $730, and has only 960 million shares outstanding, its weight is $700 billion. Although Tesla trades at a higher price, Apple has a stronger weight in an index due to the company having a larger market capitalization.
Create an account and log in
If you don’t have an account with us, you can create an account here. After you successfully create an account, go ahead and log in.
Select the index you want to trade
We have 15 different indices to trade from, including popular options such as the S&P 500, DOW Jones, FTSE 100, and the DAX 30.
Decide whether to go long or short
After you’ve selected an index you wish to trade, you’ll need to decide whether you want to open a long or short position.
Set your stops and limits
To mitigate the potential risk of losses, always ensure you have stop and limit orders in place before executing a position.
Open and monitor your trade
After you open your trade, it’s important to monitor your positions frequently to evaluate the performance.
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*dealCancellation terms apply. Available only for DOW, NDQ, SPI, DAX, FTS, ASX, NKI.
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