A spread/price comparison table covering the popular interest rate markets:
Typical In-Hours Spread Sizes
Euribor
-
2
2
2
Euroswiss
-
-
3
-
Short Sterling
-
2
3
3
Treasuries Minimum Stake
-
£0.5
£0.5
£1
Comparison Notes. This table is not meant to be inclusive, interest rates spread betting may be available through other brokers.
Interest Rates Analysis and Trading News
Date
Trading Update
14-Aug-15
[10:59am]
BoE to Beat the Fed to Raise Rates First?
The video below looks at inflation vs interest rate rises.
Update by Chris Beauchamp, Market Analyst,
01-Jul-15
[12:27pm] Fed to Raise Rates in September?
Update by
13-Jan-15
[1:06pm]
What to Expect from Treasury Markets in 2015
As tumbling oil prices put pressure on inflation, traders have rushed into safe haven treasuries so IG talks to Nicole Elliott about what she expects to see over the course of the coming year.
Readers should note that they may be able to take a position on the interest rate markets through other trading platforms.
Where Can I Trade Interest Rates for Free?
It depends upon what you mean by free.
If you're looking for a free Demo Account where you can practice trading the interest rate markets, see below.
If you want tax efficient trading, then don't forget that in the UK, spread betting is tax free*.
If you are looking for a low cost trading platform, note that you can spread bet on Short Sterling, Euribor and other interest rates commission free and with no brokers' fees at:
In this example we will look at interest rates, having said that, you spread bet on Government bonds in the same way.
Let's say you are thinking about trading STIRS (short term interest rates) and you to look up the Short Sterling futures market.
In this case, your spread betting company quotes you: 95.40 - 95.64.
The quote implies that, on the closing date for this futures market, interest rates will be between 4.36% and 4.60%.
This is calculated by taking 100 basis points and subtracting the estimated interest rates at the time of expiry, ie 100% - 95.40% = 4.6%, and 100% - 95.44% = 4.36%.
Continuing the example, let's say you think that interest rates will rise, therefore you Sell the Short Sterling market at 95.40 for £5 per point. For the Short Sterling market, 1 point is 0.01.
As it happens the interest rates fall and therefore the Short Sterling market rises. The spread betting quote moves to 95.76 - 95.84. You decide to cut your losses and close your position.
To close a trade you place a same sized traded in the opposite direction of your original trade, ie you now Buy £5 per point at 95.84.
To work out your profit/loss, you take the difference between the closing price (95.84) and the opening price (95.40), and multiply that by your stake size.
Profit/Loss = (Closing Price - Opening Price) x Stake
Profit/Loss = (95.40 - 95.84) x £5 per point
Profit/Loss = -0.44 x £5 per point
Profit/Loss = -44 points x £5 per point
Profit/Loss = £220 loss
However let's say you were right, i.e. that interest rates would rise and so the Short Sterling market would fall. In this case, you let the trade run until the expiry date and the market settles at 95.10.
Again your profit/loss is calculated by calculating the difference between the closing level (95.10) and the opening price (95.40).
Profit/Loss = (Closing Price - Opening Price) x Stake
Profit/Loss = 95.40 - 95.10 x £5 per point
Profit/Loss = 0.30 x £5 per point
Profit/Loss = 30 points x £5 per point
Profit/Loss = £150 profit
Note – example taken from 2007. You can check the expiry date of a futures market once you log into the trading platform.
Where to Get Live Interest Rate Prices
If you want to access quick live market information then you could do worse than opening an account with a firm like Financial Spreads.
Also, you don't have to trade with them, if you just open an account (which is free to do) then their data is free. The catch? You'll get the odd email or letter from them. Having said that, as per the example chart below, you can see that their free charts are also useful.
If you do open an account with Financial Spreads, or any other spread betting firm, be careful though. Before you start trading remember that spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and you may lose more than your initial investment. Only speculate with money that you can afford to lose.
As mentioned above, you can get free STIRs charts with spread betting companies like FinancialSpreads.com.
You can alter the charts to see market data by the minute, by the hour, by the day, by the week etc. There are also many other settings to help you analyse the STIRS markets.
As you can see, the charts show how the markets are not perfect and how you can expect the prices to "gap".
FinancialSpreads also have another pretty handy tool, i.e. their free Demo account (mentioned above). You can open a Demo account and place risk-free test trades whilst you hone your financial spread betting skills.
Interest rate spread betting chart:
'Interest Rates Spread Betting' edited by Jenna Cutly, updated 22-Feb-17
For related articles also see:
Bonds Spread Betting, updated 20-May-18
Bonds spread betting guide with regular market updates and a price comparison. Plus where to spread bet on government bonds tax-free*, how to access live futures charts & prices as well as... » read guide.
Treasuries Spread Betting, updated 20-May-18
An introductory guide to spread betting on treasuries. We cover the bonds and interest rates markets available, which firms offer treasuries, how and why to trade. We also... » read guide.
Treasuries Spread Betting, updated 20-May-18
An introductory guide to spread betting on treasuries. We cover the bonds and interest rates markets available, which firms offer treasuries, how and why to trade. We also... » read guide.
About this page:
Interest Rates Spread Betting
Interest rates spread betting guide with regular market updates and a price comparison. Plus where to spread bet on STIRS tax-free*, how to access live interest rates charts & prices as well as... » read from top.
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