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 & uses leverage 100:1, meaning that the trader now borrows $100 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 stock indices is illustrated 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 1 Lot - AUD 70

EU EURO STOXX

Symbol - EU 50Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 4,000

Margin per 1 Lot - € 40

France CAC40

Symbol - FRA 40Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Size - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 4,000

Margin per 1 Lot - € 40

Germany DAX30

Symbol - GER 30Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 8,500

Margin per 1 Lot - € 85

Hong Kong HangSeng50

Symbol - HK 50Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pip Size - HKD 1

1 Lot Units - HKD 45,000

Margin per 1 Lot - HKD 450

Italy FTSEMIB40

Symbol - IT 40Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pip Size - € 1

1 Lot Units - € 4,000

Margin per 1 Lot - € 250

Japan Nikkei225

Symbol - JP 225Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pip Size - JPY 1

1 Lot Units - JPY 9,000

Margin per 1 Lot - JPY 90

Netherlands AEX25

Symbol - NETH 25Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Value - € 0.1

1 Lot Units - € 500

Margin per 1 Lot - € 5

Spain IBEX35

Symbol - SPAIN 35Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 1

Pip Size - € 1

1 Lot Units - € 14,000

Margin per 1 Lot - € 140

Switzerland SMI20

Symbol - SWI 20Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.5

Pip Size - CHF 0.5

1 Lot Units - CHF 10,000

Margin per 1 Lot - CHF 100

UK FTSE100

Symbol - UK 100Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Size - £ 0.1

1 Lot Units - £7,000

Margin per 1 Lot - £70

USA S&5 500

Symbol - USA 100Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Value - $ 0.1

1 Lot Units - $3,000 dollars

Margin per 1 Lot - $30

America NASDAQ 100

Symbol - US 30Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.5

Pip Size - $ 0.5

1 Lot Units - $15,000 dollars

Margin per 1 Lot - $150

USA DowJones30

Symbol - USA 500Cash

Pip (1 Point) - 0.1

Pip Size - $ 0.1

1 Lot Units - $1,200

Margin per 1 Lot - $12 dollars

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's 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.

Learn More Tutorials and Lessons:

Trade Forex Trading

Lots & Contracts in Trading Stock Indices

Specifications of Stock Indices