Service updates

City Index Service Updates

Updated on: 29th October 2020

Market updates

As a result of increased market volatility surrounding the US Election, we have temporarily increased margin requirements for the following markets:

The changes mean you’ll need increased margin to maintain existing positions and open new positions. Please ensure you keep your account well margined over the coming days.

We’ll notify you if any further changes to margin rates are required.

Trading hours

UK British Summer Time comes to an end on the 25th October. As a result, some markets will have changes to their opening hours until Daylight Savings Time comes to an end in the US, on the 1st November.

From 25th October, these include:

• US Shares will open one hour early from 1:30pm until 8pm GMT.
• Other instruments (including those in Asia, Australia and US time zones) will open and close one hour early.
• US sugar, coffee and cocoa open as normal and close one hour early.
• UK Crude Oil and Gas Oil will open at midnight and close at 10pm GMT from 28 October until 1 November.

All above markets will return to normal trading hours from Sunday 1st November.

In addition, the Eurex exchange will open an hour earlier, the Euro Bund, Euro Bobl and Euro Schatz markets will open at 12.15am GMT until the clocks go forward in Spring 2021.

For a full list of markets affected, please visit our Market Hours page.

Changes to our Oil markets

Updated on: 29th April 2020

Please note that we have made some changes to our US Crude Oil and UK Crude Oil markets.

These include:

• Changes affecting oil trades
• Changes to the way we price our spot oil contracts

Read the following important information

Market Volatility

Due to recent market volatility, there remains a risk of gapping at market open. Ensure your account is adequately funded to maintain your open positions.

Additionally, during this time some markets may become either ‘limit down’ or ‘limit up’, restricting your ability to trade them. For further information on the impacts of this see below. 

Limit down

A limit down price is the maximum sell-off permitted in a market on a single day of trading. Once this level has been reached, trading on the market may then be restricted to prevent significant volatility and potential panic selling. A limit down price is typically determined as a percentage decline in a given market, rather than a nominal decline in price.

A limit down period is imposed by an exchange (such as the NYSE) and not by brokers. It usually lasts 15 minutes but may be extended depending on the percentage decline before market open. Limit down does not impact FX trading. 

Please note that a limit down only restricts selling on the affected market(s).

Limit Up

A limit up price is reached when a market reaches the maximum bought level permitted in a single day of trading. Once this level has been reached, trading on the market may then be restricted to prevent significant volatility and further buying. A limit up price is typically determined as a percentage increase in a given market, rather than a nominal increase in price.

A limit up period is imposed by an exchange (such as the NYSE) and not by brokers. It usually lasts 15 minutes but may be extended depending on the percentage increase before market open. Limit up does not impact FX trading.

Margins and spreads

In response to the high volatility, please note that spreads and margin levels may be reviewed and adjusted. Check the Market Information Sheets on our platform for the latest information.