Shares 

As a Finspreads Standard or Limited Risk Account holder, you can take a spread betting position on thousands of UK, US and EU shares via our online trading platform and iPhone app. Please note: Beginner Accounts do not have access to trade shares. 

Spreads and Margins

At Finspreads, we offer tight spreads on thousands of UK, EU and US shares, with our spreads for major shares starting from just 0.08% around the underlying market spread. 

Our margins on shares typically range from 5% to 10%, meaning that you can take a position on shares such as Barclays, Vodafone or Apple with just a small deposit amount. 

* Spreads may vary according to the underlying market spread, market conditions and liquidity.  

Our market information sheet details our full spreads range and can be accessed via the online trading platform.

See our spread bet examples page located in our how to spread bet section for more information on how you can spread bet shares.

What Affects Shares Prices?

Unlike conventional shares trading, spread betting offers the added advantage of tax-free profits*, meaning that as you don’t own the underlying instrument on which your spread bet is based, your profits are free from capital gains tax. 

Spread betting is also free from stamp duty and commission, offering a distinct advantage over more conventional forms of shares trading.

As a spread betting professional, you can speculate on shares and net a potential profit irrespective of whether prices are moving up or down. 

Unlike regular share dealers who typically only profit from rising prices, this feature enables you to be more flexible with your trading strategies and potentially profit even when prices are on the decline. 

Share prices can be affected by a range of factors, including news broker ratings or guidance, general economic conditions, as well as company performance.

Share prices can also be impacted by seemingly unrelated factors such as political events that may, at first glance, not have any relation with share price movement but can affect the broader tone of risk appetite in the market.

Tip: risk appetite is a reference to the vigour investors have to invest in the market. When investors are said to have a high appetite for risk, this typically means that investors are hungry to buy assets such as shares or commodities, and by doing so increase their exposure to risk. 

When investors have a low appetite for risk, they typically reduce their holdings of shares or commodities, and look to diversify their risk by investing in defensive assets such as pharmaceutical stocks or the US dollar, which can be less affected by economic or market turbulence. 

It is important that as a share trader, you keep on top of elements that can affect the likely demand for shares such as broker guidance, boardroom confidence, earnings and corporate events such as dividends. 

There can also be correlative effects from higher oil prices on other sectors such as shares. For example, higher oil prices also trigger rising fuel costs for airlines or shipping firms, which would have to shell out more on fuel over a longer period of time. This could ultimately impact underlying profits for the airline industry, pushing down profits and making stocks less attractive for investors. 

Other more direct factors such as earning reports and news events can also impact a company’s share price, making it imperative for spread bettors to research a company’s general health and trading reports, earnings announcements etc before choosing which way to speculate. 

Find out more about how you can spread bet with Finspreads and net a potential profit from rising and falling prices or find out more about risk management.