Four global markets, one account
From Apple shares to gold futures to the FTSE, all traded as CFDs from a single GCI account.
Shares
Trade leading US, European and Asian listed equities without paying exchange fees.
5% margin · ~20:1Indices
Trade benchmark indices like S&P 500, NASDAQ, Dow, FTSE, DAX, Nikkei.
~1% margin · ~100:1Commodities
Oil, gold, silver, and other commodity CFDs with deep liquidity around the clock.
~1% margin · ~100:1Currencies
Major and exotic forex pairs alongside your CFDs, one platform, one account.
Up to 400:1 leverageWhat is a Contract for Difference?
A CFD lets you take the financial position of owning a stock, without actually owning it. You receive the same gains and losses as if you held the underlying shares, but with lower costs and far less capital tied up.
Buy 1,000 Microsoft shares on the exchange
- Capital required Full share price × 1,000
- Exchange fees Yes
- Broker commissions Yes
- If MSFT rises $5 +$5,000
Buy 10 lots of Microsoft CFD on GCI
- Capital required 5% margin
- Exchange fees None
- Broker commissions Zero
- If MSFT rises $5 +$5,000, same gain
A CFD on 10 lots (100 shares each) tracks the same notional value as 1,000 underlying shares, every $1 move in the underlying produces the same dollar P&L. Lot size: 100 shares per CFD lot.
Real-time performance
Open CFD positions are valued tick by tick. Profits and losses are credited or debited to your account equity in real time, the same way share investors experience normal market movements.
Trade on margin
Instead of paying for the full position, deposit a small percentage as margin. $50,000 worth of share CFDs requires only $2,500 on deposit, freeing capital for other trades or markets.
Portfolio breadth
Trade a full portfolio of shares, indices, and commodities from one account, without the capital it would take to hold each one outright. One log-in, one set of margin rules, one platform.
Zero commissions
No exchange fees. No per-trade commissions. GCI's pricing model means you pay only the spread, the same way professional traders cost their positions.
CFD trading details
Everything you need to know before opening a CFD account.
The smallest deposit that opens a live CFD trading account at GCI.
Standard share-CFD lot. Indices and commodities have their own contract sizes, see specs.
5% on individual shares (≈ 20:1). 1% or less on indices, commodities, and currency CFDs (≈ 100:1+).
No per-trade fees. No exchange fees. You pay only the spread.
Sunday to Friday (EST). Exact hours vary by instrument, see contract specs.
Trading CFDs at GCI takes three steps
Open an account
$500 minimum deposit. Verification typically completes within hours.
Open Live AccountPlace your first trade
Or practice risk-free first — open a free demo account in seconds.
Try Free DemoTrading since 2002. Award-winning since.
GCI has offered online trading for over 23 years — one of the longest tenures in retail brokerage. We've built our CFD offering on the same pillars that won us multiple industry awards: tight spreads, zero commissions, deep liquidity, and reliable execution.
View our awardsReady to trade CFDs?
Instant account opening — start trading within minutes.