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Spread betting FAQs

  1. What is spread betting?
  2. What platform can I use for spread betting?
  3. What can I trade on a spread betting account?
  4. What is order volume?
  5. What is the minimum trade size I can place on my spread betting account?
  6. What leverage can I get on my spread betting account?What are the trading hours for the forex market?
  7. How do I calculate the margin requirement for a forex spread betting position?
  8. How do I calculate my profit or loss?
  9. What are the trading hours for spread betting?
  10. How do I access the History Center?
  11. What are the advantages of spread betting?
  12. In what currency is my profit calculated for my spread betting account?
  13. Can anybody open a spread betting account?
  14. Can I open a spread betting account if I live in the UK but I am not a UK citizen?
  15. What is the minimum deposit?



1. What is spread betting?

Financial spread betting is a type of derivative product that allows you to bet on the price movements of the financial markets where the risk per pip can be defined to a specific value.

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2. What platform can I use for spread betting?

You can spread bet with Alpari UK on the cutting-edge MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform.

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3. What can I trade on a spread betting account?

You can spread bet on currency pairs, indices and commodities.

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4. What is order volume?

The order volume for spread betting is the amount of your stake in British pounds (GBP): for example, a volume of 1 would be a full bet which is worth GBP1 per pip for forex.

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5. What is the minimum trade size I can place on my spread betting account?

You can start spread betting from 10 pence per pip, which means the minimum trade size for a spread betting account is 0.1 pips.

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6. What leverage can I get on my spread betting account?

You can select any leverage from 1:1 to 1:500. To change your spread betting account leverage please contact our Client Support team by telephone on +44 20 7426 2900 (07:00-22:00 UK time Monday to Friday) or send an email to support@alpari.co.uk.

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7. How do I calculate the margin requirement for a forex spread betting position?

Please follow the calculation below:
Margin requirement = entry price x 10,000 x order volume / leverage

FOR JPY PAIRS, margin requirement = entry price x 100 x order volume / leverage

For example, if you decide to place a volume of 0.1 at a leverage of 1:100 for EURGBP at an entry price of 0.81069, then:
Margin requirement = entry price x 10,000 x order volume / leverage
Margin requirement = 0.81069 x 10,000 x 0.1/100
Margin requirement = GBP8.11

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8. How do I calculate my profit or loss?

Let’s say you placed a sell order in GBPUSD at an opening price of 1.56850, which you closed at 1.55223 for a stake of 12p/pip:

Profit or loss = (opening price-closing price) x 10,000 x stake 
Profit or loss = (1.56850 - 1.555223) x 10,000 = 162.7
Stake 12p/pip x 162.7 pips = GBP19.52 profit

On the other hand, if you placed a buy order in GBPUSD at an opening price of 1.56850, which you closed at 1.55223 for a stake of 12p/pip, the outcome would be different:

Profit or loss = (closing price-opening price) x 10,000 x stake
Profit or loss = (1.55223 - 1.56850) x 10,000 = -162.7
Stake 12p/pip x 162.7 pips = £19.52 loss

For JPY pairs, profit and loss = (closing price-opening price) x 100 x stake

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9. What are the trading hours for spread betting?

For spread betting on forex, the trading session starts every Sunday at 22:00 UK time (Monday 00:00 EET) and ends every Friday at 22:00 UK time (00:00 EET). For spread betting on indices and commodities, trading hours vary. Please check our index spread betting product and contract specifications and our commodity spread betting product and contract specifications.

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10. How do I access the History Center?

Once you have logged into your spread betting account on your MetaTrader 4 platform, please navigate to “Tools” in your menu bar. Then select “History Center” and select the currency pair and timeframe you wish to download the data for.

After doing that, please choose download. When the requested data has been successfully downloaded, please right-click on your chart and select “refresh”. The data will be reflected on your chart.

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11. What are the advantages of spread betting?

The biggest advantage of spread betting is that your profits are tax free* in the UK and there are no commission charges.

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12. In what currency is my profit calculated for my spread betting account?

Your profit is always calculated in British pounds (GBP).

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13. Can anybody open a spread betting account?

Spread betting accounts are only available for residents of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

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14. Can I open a spread betting account if I live in the UK or Ireland, but I am not a citizen of the UK or Ireland?

Yes, you can open a spread betting account as long as you reside in the UK.

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15. What is the minimum deposit?

You can start spread betting with us with a minimum deposit of GBP250.

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