IUX Stock Trading: Commission-Free Share CFDs, Extended Hours and Limits

IUX's stock CFD page promises "0% commission and swap free" trading on US shares such as Apple, Tesla and Alphabet. Its Help Center adds that you can trade individual US and European stocks as CFDs, going long or short without owning the shares. IUX also offers extended hours on 150+ top US shares, so you can trade before and after the regular New York session.

Stock CFDs behave differently from IUX's forex and crypto products in a few important ways, from leverage caps to LotBack eligibility.

How stock CFDs work

A stock CFD tracks a share's price. If you buy a CFD on Apple and the price rises $2, you gain $2 per share-equivalent, and if it falls you lose. You don't get shareholder rights or voting, and you can sell short as easily as you buy. Because it's a margin product, you only put up part of the position's value.

IUX's live quotes include names such as Adobe (ADBE), AMD, American Tower (AMT), Broadcom (AVGO), Boeing (BA), Alibaba (BABA), Bank of America (BAC) and Biogen (BIIB), alongside Apple, Tesla and Alphabet.

Costs: commission and swaps

With no commission, your cost on a stock CFD is the spread. IUX's live quotes show stock spreads in cents, which vary by share and widen outside regular hours. On swaps, IUX's swap-free article says stock CFDs are excluded from overnight fees even when an account loses swap-free status, which makes stocks one of the cheaper products to hold for several days at IUX.

Leverage limits on stocks

During IUX's HMR periods, around news, market closes and rollover, leverage on all stock CFDs is capped at 1:20. That means a $2,000 position needs $100 of margin at the cap. Stocks also gap at the open, especially after earnings, so IUX's market-break rule matters: if your margin level is at or below 100% during a break, positions may be closed. See IUX stop out.

Extended hours trading

IUX says its extended hours cover pre-market and after-hours trading on more than 150 top US shares. That lets you react to earnings or news that breaks outside the standard New York session. Liquidity is lower in those periods, so spreads are wider.

IUX's market hours table lists US stock CFDs as trading from 14:30 Monday to 21:00 Friday in the summer period, shown in GMT+1, with a daily break between sessions. On US holidays such as Labor Day, stock CFDs are closed; IUX emails holiday schedules to registered clients.

Lot limits and LotBack

IUX's lot-size table puts stock CFDs under "other instruments", with a maximum of 10 lots per order and 10 lots per symbol. Stock CFDs aren't eligible for LotBack points, along with index and thematic index CFDs; see IUX promotions.

Is IUX good for stock trading?

For short-term trading on big US names, IUX's mix of no commission, no swaps and extended hours is competitive. It isn't investing: you don't own the shares, you don't get dividends as an owner would, and leverage magnifies losses. If you want to hold shares for years, a regulated stockbroker is the better home.

• Good for: trading earnings moves, shorting, and short-term swings on large US stocks.
• Less suited to: long-term investing, small-cap shares and anyone who wants ownership rights.

Placing a stock CFD trade

1. Open MT5, the IUX Trade App or the client dashboard and search for the company's ticker, such as AAPL or TSLA.
2. Check that the market is open and look at the current spread.
3. Choose the volume; stock CFDs fall under IUX's 10-lot limit per order.
4. Add a stop loss and take profit, then place the order.

Check the contract specification in MT5 before your first trade, so you know how much one lot represents and what each price move is worth in dollars.

Stocks or indices?

If you want exposure to the US market as a whole rather than a single company, IUX's index CFDs include the S&P 500, US30 and USTEC. During HMR periods major indices keep a higher cap than shares, at 1:200 against 1:20, and a single index trade spreads your risk across many companies. Like stock CFDs, index CFDs don't earn LotBack points.

Single shares offer bigger moves on news that concerns one company, which is both the appeal and the danger. Many traders keep a mix: an index for the broad view, a few shares for specific ideas.

Before the earnings season, list the dates for the shares you trade and decide in advance whether to hold through them. IUX's leverage cap and market break rule both work against thin accounts at those moments, and a trading plan written on a quiet day is easier to follow than one made as the share price jumps.

Frequently asked

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