What are financial markets?

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Financial markets is a very broad term and can vary from world to virtual currencies, commodities to stock indices, shares to ETFs plus rates and bonds, where traders can invest in or trade on a huge range of securities and derivatives. We invest and trade in indices, currencies and commodities.

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What are indices?

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Indices are a measure of a section of shares in the stock market, created by combining the value of several stocks to create one aggregate value. Major financial indices include the Dow Jones Industrial Average, FTSE 100, CAC 40, and Dax 40. The Dow Jones index, for example, represents 30 large publicly-listed companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

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What is forex?

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FX trading, also known as foreign exchange trading, or forex trading, is the exchange of different currencies on a decentralised global market. It's one of the largest and most liquid financial markets in the world. Forex trading involves the simultaneous buying and selling of the world's currencies on this market.

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What is a commodity?

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A commodity is a physical good that can be bought or sold on the commodity market. Commodities can be categorised into either hard or soft varieties. Hard commodities are natural resources like oil, gold and rubber and are often mined or extracted. Soft commodities are agricultural products such as coffee, wheat or corn.

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Trading the financial markets

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Spread betting (UK and Ireland only) and CFD trading are two key ways to trade on the financial markets. They are both margined products, which facilitate trading across a huge range of financial markets, including forex, indices, shares, ETFs and commodities.