Spread Betting

What is Spread Betting?

Spread Betting is a derivative product that allows you to bet on the price movement of a financial market or individual financial instruments. Spread Betting can be used by speculators to profit from both rising and falling markets without the hassle of having to take physical ownership of the underlying asset. Unlike traditional share trading you are able to ‘go short’ on bets meaning that if you believe that the FTSE 100 is going to drop, you are able to sell first with the aim of buying it back later at a lower price.

When betting on the movement of a financial instrument, each point the instrument moves in your favor will result in a gain to you and each point that a position moves against you will result in a loss. As Spread Betting involves leverage, both profits and losses are magnified.

Spread Betting is a margined product that requires you to deposit a small percentage of the full value of the position that you hold, also known as the 'Margin'. Using leverage enables exposure to large positions with only a small outlay.

Spread Betting's popularity is very high amongst UK residents as it enables advantages similar to that of CFDs but for full UK residents it also provides a Tax Free* solution to trading. Spread Betting means that traders/betters are not liable for stamp duty or capital gains tax on winnings.

With FP Markets you are able to trade a wide range of equities in markets ranging from the UK and Europe to America and Asia. You are also able to bet on a wide range of instruments from commodities such as gold and silver to indices such as the FTSE or the NASDAQ. Our platform also gives you the ability to bet on some of the major currency pairings such as the GBP, USD EUR and AUD.

* Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each customer. Tax law can change or may differ in a jurisdiction other than the UK.

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