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 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 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 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
Pip Size - AUD 0.1
1 Lot Units - AUD 7,000
Margin per 1Lot - AUD 70
EU EURO STOXX
Symbol - EU 50Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - € 0.1
1 Lot Units - € 4,000
Margin per 1Lot - € 40
France CAC40
Symbol - FRA 40Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - € 0.1
1 Lot Units - € 4,000
Margin per 1Lot - € 40
Germany DAX30
Symbol - GER 30Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - € 0.1
1 Lot Units - € 8,500
Margin per 1Lot - € 85
Hong Kong HangSeng50
Symbol - HK 50Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 1
Pip Size - HKD 1
1 Lot Units - HKD 45,000
Margin per 1Lot - HKD 450
Italy FTSEMIB40
Symbol - IT 40Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 1
Pip Size - € 1
1 Lot Units - € 4,000
Margin per 1Lot - € 250
Japan Nikkei225
Symbol - JP 225Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 1
Pip Size - JPY 1
1 Lot Units - JPY 9,000
Margin per 1Lot - JPY 90
Netherlands AEX25
Symbol - NETH 25Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - € 0.1
1 Lot Units - € 500
Margin per 1Lot - € 5
Spain IBEX35
Symbol - SPAIN 35Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 1
Pip Size - € 1
1 Lot Units - € 14,000
Margin per 1Lot - € 140
Switzerland SMI20
Symbol - SWI 20Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.5
Pip Size - CHF 0.5
1 Lot Units - CHF 10,000
Margin per 1Lot - CHF 100
UK FTSE100
Symbol - UK 100Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - £ 0.1
1 Lot Units - £7,000
Margin per 1Lot - £70
USA S&5 500
Symbol - US 100Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - $ 0.1
1 Lot Units - $3,000
Margin per 1Lot - $30
USA NASDAQ 100
Symbol - US 30Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.5
Pip Size - $ 0.5
1 Lot Units - $15,000
Margin per 1Lot - $150
USA DowJones30
Symbol - US 500Cash
Pip (1 Point) - 0.1
Pip Size - $ 0.1
1 Lot Units - $1,200
Margin per 1Lot - $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.
