How to trade or invest in the NASDAQ

You can spread bet on the current price of the US Tech 100 with the cash (spot) price.

It’s best suited to short term traders, as cash/spot trading does incur overnight funding charges if you leave a position open after 10pm (UK time).

Our cash prices for the US Tech 100 are based off our future’s price with a fair value adjustment to get to a spot price as close to the real-time cash price of the index as possible. Spot trading (known as cash trading in our platform) is best done during the index’s normal market hours. The index’s hours are based on the New York Stock Exchange’s regular hours, which are 2.30pm to 9pm, Monday to Friday (UK time).

However, we also offer out-of-hours trading – in fact, we offer more hours than any other trading platform in the UK. This means you can get 24/7 pricing on the US Tech 100 – useful for the very different time zones to the UK.

To open a position, follow these steps:

1. Go to the spread betting platform and:
2. Navigate to the 'US Tech 100', under ‘Indices’
3. Select ‘Cash’ instead of ‘Futures’ to trade
4. Decide whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose the size of your position per point
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open the position

If you’re more of a medium- to long-term trader, you can also trade US Tech 100 futures with us.

With index futures, you’ll agree to trade the US Tech 100 at a specific price on a set date in the future. While futures contracts have wider spreads, you won’t incur any overnight fees, so you can leave your position open until the contract’s expiry date. Your position will be closed once the contract expires, and you’ll take a profit or loss based on the outcome of the trade.

Spread betting on US Tech 100 futures is commission-free, we charge just our spread for index futures.

Here’s how to open a futures position on the US Tech 100:

1. Go to the spread betting platform
2. Select the 'US Tech 100' under ‘Indices’
3. Choose ‘Futures’ instead of ‘Cash’ to trade and select your preferred date range
4. Decide whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose the size of your position per point
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open the position

With us, you can also trade the US Tech100 options, which give you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the options contract before a predetermined expiry date.

When you trade options by spread betting on our platform, you’ll be speculating on the US Tech 100’s price and if it moves beyond a certain price within the timeframe of before your expiry date is reached.

Bear in mind that, when spread betting options, you’ll only risk as much as the premium you pay when opening your trade. However, there is potentially unlimited risk when selling options, as there’s no cap to how much market prices can rise. For this reason, options trading is often only recommended for experienced traders.

How to open an options position via spread betting:

1. Go to the spread betting platform
2. Click on ‘Options’ instead of ‘Indices’
3. Choose ‘Indices’ as your asset class and select the 'US Tech 100'
4. Decide on your preferred maturity date range – daily, weekly or monthly
5. Select a call or put option, and whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
6. Choose the size of your position
7. Set yours stops and limits
8. Click ‘place deal’ to open the position

You can also spread bet using exchange traded funds (ETFs), investment instruments that track the performance of a range of NASDAQ-listed stocks. In this way, ETFs can be useful for getting broad exposure in a single trade.

Spread betting on ETFs is commission-free, with spreads from as low as 0.1%. Spread betting ETFs on spot (cash) prices will incur an overnight funding fee, but trading ETFs on forwards markets has no overnight funding charges.

Here’s how to open a NASDAQ-linked ETF position:

1. Go to the spread betting platform
2. Select ‘ETFs’ instead of ‘Indices’
3. Click on your chosen ETF, for example the 'iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF'
4. Choose whether you want to trade ETFs with 'Cash' or 'Forwards'
5. Decide whether to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
6. Choose the size of your position per point
7. Set yours stops and limits
8. Click ‘place deal’ to open your position

If you have a particular NASDAQ-listed company in mind, you can spread bet on these shares directly.

Unlike owning the shares of a NASDAQ-listed company outright, spread betting on NASDAQ constituents’ shares enables you to go long or short, so you can adjust your strategy depending on what the market’s doing.

As spread betting is leveraged, you won’t own the shares outright but will instead speculate on the share price. Leveraged trading means you pay an upfront deposit to open your trade, which is fraction of the cost you’d buy NASDAQ-listed company shares outright. Bear in mind, though, that profits and losses will be calculated based on your total position size, not the margin amount.

You’ll never pay commission on share spread bets. You’ll also get low spreads with cash shares, but will incur an overnight funding fee on any positions left open after 10pm (UK time). Spread betting share forwards, meanwhile, is completely free of all overnight funding and commission–the only charge is the spread (which is slightly wider than spot price spreads).

To open a shares position, simply go to the spread betting platform and:

1. Select ‘Shares’ instead of 'Indices' or 'ETFs'
2. Click on your chosen company, for example Tesla
3. Choose whether you want to trade on the spot (cash) or using forwards
4. Decide whether to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose the size of your position per point
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open your position

You can also invest in NASDAQ-listed company shares outright with share dealing. Read on for more details.

One way to trade the US Tech 100 is by using CFDs on the spot (cash) price.

Trading the spot price means you get the closer pricing to the real-time US Tech 100 than you would with futures, as prices are based off our future’s price with a fair value adjustment to get as close to the real-time cash price as possible, plus there are low spreads and no commissions charged on indices.

As spot trading does come with overnight funding fees if you leave a position open overnight, this form of trading is best suited to short- and medium-term strategies.

To open a US Tech 100 spot position:

1. Go to the CFD trading platform
2. Select the 'US Tech 100' under ‘Indices’
3. Choose ‘Futures’ instead of ‘Cash’ to trade and select your preferred date range
4. Decide whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose your deal size in terms of number of contracts
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open your position

With options you have the right, but not the obligation, to exercise the contract on or before its expiry date. When you trade options via CFDs, you’ll pay an initial deposit (called premium) to open a larger position. You’ll then speculate on the option’s premium for a profit or loss – but note that both can significantly outweigh your deposit amount. This is because profits and losses are calculated on the full position size, not the premium amount, so ensure you trade wisely.

Remember, buying options is limited risk as you’ll only jeopardise your paid margin. But selling options is technically unlimited risk, as there’s no restriction to how much a market’s price can rise.

How to open a CFD options position on the US Tech 100:

1. Go to the spread betting platform
2. Click on ‘Options’ instead of ‘Indices’
3. Choose ‘Indices’ as your asset class and select the 'US Tech 100'
4. Decide on your preferred maturity date range – daily, weekly or monthly
5. Select a call or put option, and whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
6. Choose the size of your position
7. Set yours stops and limits
8. Click ‘place deal’ to open the position

When you trade US Tech 100 futures with us, you won’t pay additional overnight funding charges or commission, as the cost is built into the spread. This is why futures have wider spreads than spot positions.

Trading index futures via CFDs means you’re agreeing to trade the US Tech 100 at a specific price and set date in the future.

How to open a futures position on the US Tech 100:

1. Go to the CFD trading platform
2. Select the 'US Tech' 100 under ‘Indices’
3. Choose ‘Futures’ instead of ‘Cash’ to trade and select your preferred date range
4. Decide whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose your deal size in terms of number of contracts
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open your position

If you want to gain exposure to a broad range of NASDAQ-listed shares all in one place, you can trade ETFs derived from the index. Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are investment instruments that track the performance of a range of NASDAQ-listed stocks, to give you variety with very low commissions.

ETF commissions start from just 0.1% on each side of a CFD trade, with a minimum fee of £10 for online orders. Just bear in mind that you’ll be trading on the cash (spot) price with ETFs, so there are funding charges you could incur if you leave your position open overnight.

To open a NASDAQ-linked ETF position:

1. Go to the CFD trading platform
2. Select ‘ETFs’ instead of ‘Indices’
3. Click on your chosen ETF, for example the 'iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS'
4. Decide whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose your deal size in terms of number of contracts
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open your position

Those who don’t want broad exposure, but rather have their eye on a particular NASDAQ-listed company, might want to try CFD trading.

With CFD trading, you won’t own company shares outright. Unlike owning company shares, which means you can only make a profit if the share price goes up, you can go long or short.

While owning shares means paying the full share price upfront, CFD trading is leveraged. This means you’ll pay only a small deposit amount (called margin) to open a larger position.

However, as profits and losses will be calculated based on your total position size, these can substantially outweigh your margin amount, so ensure you always trade within your means.

CFD share trading enjoys very low spreads, as we charge no spread on our side with you only having to pay the underlying spread price, and a minimum commission charge of $15.

To open a shares position, simply go to the CFD trading platform and:

1. Select ‘Shares’
2. Click on your chosen company, for example Tesla
3. Choose whether you want to trade shares on the spot or using futures
4. Decide whether you want to buy (go long) or sell (go short)
5. Choose your deal size in terms of number of contracts
6. Set yours stops and limits
7. Click ‘place deal’ to open your position

If as an investor you want to gain exposure to the whole NASDAQ, rather than just one stock, you could buy NASDAQ-linked ETFs.

Because this is a form of investing, NASDAQ-tracking ETFs are best suited to medium-and longer-term positions or a ‘buy and hold’ strategy.

When investing in NASDAQ-linked ETFs with us in the UK, look out for NASDAQ-tracking ETFs with ‘UCITS’ in the name. This means they are fully regulated to be traded in the UK. You’ll pay a commission as low as £3 per trade if you opened three or more positions in the previous month,¹ with a standard rate otherwise of £8.²

If you’re interested in specific NASDAQ-listed company stocks rather than a broad-range ETF, you can buy shares on our share dealing platform.

This means you won’t get exposure to the entire US Tech 100, but does mean that you can choose the stocks most closely aligned to your individual trading strategy.

Not sure where to start? Or perhaps you just want things managed for you by a professional? You can also invest in the US Tech 100 by means of a managed portfolio with us.

With managed portfolios, we create a bespoke collection of stocks and funds for you according to your individual needs and goals. A managed portfolio invests on your behalf, including into the US Tech 100, and takes care of the details so you don’t have to. You’ll pay a 0.72% establishment fee on your first £50,000 and 0.22% thereafter.

Our actively managed portfolios are called IG Smart Portfolios, which combine low costs with innovative technology for an actively managed solution that’s as cost-effective as it is tailored to your needs. Powered by BlackRock asset allocation, Smart Portfolios have no additional set up or exit fees and can be started with just £500.