Lots & Contracts in Trading Stock Indices

Stock indices are traded in lots; these lots are made up of a number of units of a particular Indices.

For example the 1 lot of AUS 200Cash Stock Index is made up of AUD 7,000 & for this 1 lot one point movement in the Stock Indices value is equal to AUD 0.1: However with leverage of 100:1 a trader only needs AUD 70 as their margin or capital so as to open 1 lot of AUS 200Cash Stock Index.

Leverage for those who do not know is trading on borrowed capital while using very little of your own capital as security. For example leverage 100:1 means that a trader borrows $100 dollars for every $1 dollar of their own. Therefore if a trader has $10,000 dollars & uses leverage 100:1, meaning that the trader now borrows $100 dollars for every $1 dollar that they have - that is $10,000*100= $1,000,000. This leverage is what makes Stock Index attractive to most online traders as traders obtain more capital to invest with once they employ leverage.

The leverage for each of the 14 indices is shown below along with the margin requirements & profit per 1 point movement in the Stock Indices instruments.

Specifications of Stock Indices

Specifications of the Stock Indices provided for trading are shown below:

Australia ASX200

Symbol - AUS 200Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - AUD 0.1

1 Lot Units - AUD 7,000

Margin per Lot - AUD 70

EU EURO STOXX

Symbol - EU 50Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 4,000

Margin per Lot - € 40

France CAC40

Symbol - FRA 40Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 4,000

Margin per Lot - € 40

Germany DAX30

Symbol - GER 30Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 8,500

Margin per Lot - € 85

Hong Kong HangSeng50

Symbol - HK 50Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pips Value - HKD 1

1 Lot Units - HKD 45,000

Margin per Lot - HKD 450

Italy FTSEMIB40

Symbol - IT 40Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pips Value - € 1

1 Lot Units - € 4,000

Margin per Lot - € 250

Japan Nikkei225

Symbol - JP 225Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pips Value - JPY 1

1 Lot Units - JPY 9,000

Margin per Lot - JPY 90

Netherlands AEX25

Symbol - NETH 25Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 500

Margin per Lot - € 5

Spain IBEX35

Symbol - SPAIN 35Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pips Value - € 1

1 Lot Units - € 14,000

Margin per Lot - € 140

Switzerland SMI20

Symbol - SWI 20Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.5

Pips Value - CHF 0.5

1 Lot Units - CHF 10,000

Margin per Lot - CHF 100

UK FTSE100

Symbol - UK 100Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - £ 0.1

1 Lot Units - £7,000

Margin per Lot - £70

USA S&5 500

Symbol - US 100Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - $ 0.1

1 Lot Units - $3,000

Margin per Lot - $30

USA NASDAQ 100

Symbol - US 30Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.5

Pips Value - $ 0.5

1 Lot Units - $15,000

Margin per Lot - $150

USA DowJones30

Symbol - US 500Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pips Value - $ 0.1

1 Lot Units - $1,200

Margin per Lot - $12

Please note these instruments are quoted in 5 decimal points & therefore when trading note that the last point represents a fraction of a point.

For example if GER 30 is quoted at 11645.20, last point represents a fraction of a point, point in this case is the digit 2, & because for GER 30 1 Point equals € 0.1 to make profit of € 1, price will have to move 10 points that is 11646.20.

The margin is the amount of capital that you will put down so as to transact one lot of that financial instrument.

Each Stock Index is based on a different currency: therefore there is no standard lot for these Stock Indices. In addition the profit from each Stock Index is calculated in the currency of the economy that it represents - therefore you've to factor the exchange rate in relation to the dollar when calculating the profits.