Our platform pricing

The prices of our products are generated electronically by the platform and are based on, but may not be identical to, the market prices of the relevant underlying products. Where the underlying product is predominantly traded on an exchange we source these market prices from industry-leading data vendors, and where the product is predominantly traded over the counter (OTC), for example FX, we source price data directly from our liquidity providers.

Our automated pricing engine collates and checks thousands of prices per second from these data sources, discarding any prices determined as erroneous, such as a crossed price. It is from this cleansed data that our prices are derived.

Due to market fluctuations and technical conditions, there may be times where the price you see on your device may not be identical to the price at which your trade is executed, particularly in fast moving markets. If there are changes in the price between the time an order is placed and executed, you will generally receive the price at the time the order was executed. This may be to your advantage or disadvantage.

For information on the process by which our platform executes your orders, please read our Order Execution Policies available here.

CFD Trades

View the price available to you in relation to the volume you want to trade in a particular instrument from our price depth ladder, which is available on the order ticket.

Larger trade sizes may attract a wider spread than smaller trade sizes.

There are certain circumstances where we have to generate our own prices manually or synthetically rather than purely through our automated pricing engine, for example where we quote prices on CFDs outside of the market hours of the underlying products. This in turn provides you with liquidity outside of these market hours. Where we generate such prices manually, we will endeavour to produce a fair price taking into account certain third-party pricing sources, where available, as well as our own market for the relevant product.

There may be times when we reject an order. The proportion of orders that are rejected will depend on your trading behaviour, the platform’s behaviour and connections through which you trade. The majority of clients are likely to see few, if any, rejects, depending on the way that they trade with us.

Shares

Cash

Using the underlying share price data as a basis, our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each share CFD. Each level transparently displays the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder.

Indices

Cash

Our cash indices provide the convenience of being able to trade on a continuous price that, unlike forward indices, are not subject to an expiration date.

Using a blend of the underlying benchmark index price data and futures price data (adjusted for any dividends, the applicable interest rate and the time to expiry) our automated pricing engine calculates theoretical cash prices for each cash index. Using these theoretical cash prices as a basis our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each cash index. Each level transparently displays the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder.

Forwards

Using the underlying futures price data as a basis our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each forward index. Each level transparently displays the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder. The difference between the price of cash indices and forward indices is primarily driven by interest rates and dividends.

FX, Gold & Silver

Cash

Using prices sourced from several major liquidity providers to the OTC FX and bullion market our automated pricing engine calculates aggregated prices for US dollar FX pairs such as USD/CHF or GBP/USD, taking into account various factors including time, mid-price and spread. The majority of non-US dollar FX crosses are generally synthetically created from the applicable US dollar pairs, although in some instances may be created using the same method as that for US dollar pairs explained above. Using these prices as a basis our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each FX pair; each level transparently displaying the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder.

FX Active Accounts

We offer both Standard or FX Active account types. FX Active accounts have access to 6 major FX pairs from 0.0 pip spreads with all other FX pairs having a 25% discount when compared to CMC Markets’ standard retail accounts.

Commission on MetaTrader4 FX Active can be found on of our website here under the heading ‘Contracts for difference trading costs’. Other platforms will display the commission charge inside the trading platform on the product details.

FX Active products on the MetaTrader platforms are denoted with “.a” products (e.g. EURUSD.a)

Forwards

Using the underlying futures price data as a basis our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each forward FX pair; each level transparently displaying the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder. The difference between the price of cash FX and forward FX is primarily driven by interest rate differentials between the two associated currencies.

Treasuries and Commodities (excluding Gold & Silver)

Cash

Our cash commodities and treasuries provide clients with the convenience of being able to trade on a single instrument that, unlike forward commodities or treasuries, are not subject to an expiration date.

Using the underlying futures price data as a basis, our automated pricing engine calculates theoretical cash prices for each cash commodity and treasury by adding or subtracting (as applicable) the implied carry cost. Using these theoretical cash prices as a basis our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each cash commodity and treasury. Each level transparently displays the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder. Please note that in exceptional market conditions the price of cash commodities or treasuries may not be based on the discounted price of the near two forward contracts but a further dated expiry.

Forwards

Using the underlying futures price data as a basis, our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each forward commodity and treasury. Each level transparently displays the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder. The difference between the price of cash commodities or treasuries and forward commodities or treasuries is primarily driven by the basis between the near two forward contracts at the time that the nearest contract expires.

Cryptocurrencies

Cash

Using prices sourced from several major spot exchanges (Binance, Bitstamp, Coinbase Pro, itBit, Gemini, Kraken*) our automated pricing engine calculates aggregated prices for these products, taking into account various factors including time, mid-price and spread. Using these prices as a basis our automated pricing engine derives price depth ladders containing up to ten levels of depth for each Cryptocurrency; each level transparently displaying the volume obtainable at a distinct price, with the volume and the applicable spread increasing as you go further down the ladder.

*These sources were used at the time this content was written, but due to the varying liquidity across venues, this list is subject to change.

Custom Indices

Forex

By using prices we have aggregated for the relevant FX pair constituents that make up each index, our automated basket pricing engine builds a price depth ladder according to the specific pricing methodology of the product.

Commodity

Using CMC aggregated prices of defined cash commodity constituents, our automated basket pricing engine builds a price depth ladder according to the specific pricing methodology of the product.

Cryptocurrencies

Using CMC aggregated prices of defined cryptocurrency constituents, our automated basket pricing engine builds a price depth ladder according to the specific pricing methodology of the product.

Share Baskets

Using CMC aggregated prices of defined share constituents, our automated basket pricing engine builds a price depth ladder according to the specific pricing methodology of the product.

Note: At any time, CMC’s prices may be subject to adjustments in order to assist with market-making (by our automated pricing engine or manually by our trading desk).

Out of Hours and Manual Pricing

There are a small number of CFDs where we quote prices outside of the market hours for the underlying instrument. Examples include UK 100 and Germany 30 indices. For these instruments, we use a methodology which references the price of underlying instruments that are within their market hours as a proxy.

There are also rare cases where it may be more appropriate to price a product manually. These occasions are often caused by technical issues in the underlying exchange or with market data providers, making it difficult to calculate a price automatically, but where there is enough information via other sources to publish and maintain a price manually. In these cases, we will monitor the situation closely, seeking alternative automated pricing methods, and will revert to automatic pricing as soon as reasonably possible.