Indices
Stock Indices use a portfolio of representative companies (usually spanning major industries) to reflect the status of the whole stock market. There are basically three kinds: global, regional and national. Global indices include companies regardless of where they are traded. Regional indices include companies from a certain region and national indices include companies from a specific nation. Stock Indices are used to get an indication of the market's overall direction. Some analysts use them as a barometer of the underlying economy.
Indices can be comprised of tens to hundreds of stocks and each index calculates the weighted average differently. Some weigh the stocks equally (equal weighting), others take company size into account (capitalization weighting) and others use a hybrid method (modified capitalization weighting). Stock Indices are tradable entities themselves. A currency index is a measure of the value of a specific currency relative to other select currencies. Indices like the US Dollar Index or the Euro Currency Index are used to gauge the strength of those respective currencies.
Indices are the most popular form of CFDs. IC Broker has a large range of Indices from around the world to choose from, including the Australian S&P 200 Index, UK FTSE 100 Index, US E-mini S&P 500 and US DJIA Index.
A stock index is a good indicative measure of market performance. Indices such as the FTSE 100 and DJIA Index are baskets of blue chip stocks listed on the exchange and are generally a good measure of the current market sentiment. A change in the performance of any constituent stock in an index is reflected in a change in the overall value of that index.
Indices have the advantage of allowing traders to take a wider view of a basket of stocks rather than taking a view on one individual stock alone. Online CFD and futures based indices are offered on both IC Broker Platforms.
Indices
Facts
(Spot) Equity Indices Spreads
IC Broker offers competitive spreads across all of our cash Indices, including the E-mini S&P 500 Index from 0.5 points, the FTSE 100 Index from 1 point, Xetra DAX Index from 1 point and S&P 200 Index from 1 point.
Futures Indices
In addition to Equity Indices, IC Broker also offers Futures Indices: ICE Dollar Index and VIX Index.
How to determine if a client is entitled dividend from Index AUS200?
From the above example, let us assume that the ex-dividend date for Index AUS200 is on the of 18th August 2016. Therefore, a client must have an open position for Index AUS200 before the 18th of August 2016 and it must remain open until the 18th August 2016, in order to have the dividend adjustment of €2.44 per lot. To determine if the dividend adjustment is added or deducted to the client’s account, will depend on whether it is a SELL or BUY on AUS200. If the client has 1 lot of BUY for AUS200, the client will be entitled €2.44 per lot. However, if it is a SELL of AUS200, the client will be deducted €2.44 per lot. The amount €2.44 per lot will be converted to the client’s base currency, before it is being deducted.
Since this is from index AUS200, the dividend adjustment will be EUR€2.44 per lot. Alternatively, if the index is US500, the dividend adjustment would be EUR €2.44 per lot. IC Broker EX- Dividends Excel sheet shows the expected Indices that will have their index points adjusted for the given week and the actual ex-dividend adjustment amount for each indices will be updated regularly on our blog, Ex- Dividends Adjustments.
Indices example
The gross profit on your trade is calculated as follows: