Spreads and Margins — GCI Financial Limited Skip navigation

Risk Warning: Trading financial products on margin carries a high degree of risk and is not suitable for all investors. Losses can include all your initial investment. Please ensure you fully understand the risks and take appropriate care to manage your risk.

Pricing & Specifications

Spreads and Margins

GCI offers some of the most competitive spreads in the market for both major and minor currency pairs. Our average spread of 0.1 pips for EUR/USD is exceptionally low and ranks among the lowest globally.

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All-in pricing
  • Zero commissions on all products
  • Real-time execution, no requotes
  • Auto-liquidation protects your balance
$0

Commissions on all products

Auto-liquidation

Protects your account balance

400:1

Max leverage 1000:1

Real-time

Usable margin monitoring

Available Spreads & Margins

GCI offers the most competitive spreads in the industry. All products are commission-free.

Stock Market Indices 17 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5* $ Value cTrader/MT5*
S&P 500 50 ticks 2.50 50 ticks 25.00
Nasdaq 100 75 ticks 3.75 75 ticks 15.00
Dow Jones Ind. 4 ticks 4.00 4 ticks 20.00
Russell 2000 50 ticks 5.00 50 ticks 50.00
QQQ (Nasdaq 100 Trust) 4 ticks 4.00 4 ticks 8.00
DAX 30 4 ticks 20.00 4 ticks 150.00
DJ Euro Stoxx 50 3 ticks 6.00 3 ticks 47.25
CAC 40 3 ticks 15.00 3 ticks 48.00
FTSE 100 3 ticks 3.00 3 ticks 60.00
IBEX 35 10 ticks 10.00 10 ticks 16.00
Swiss Market Index (SMI) 5 ticks 5.00 5 ticks 70.00
Nikkei 225 5 ticks 5.00 5 ticks 5.00
SPI 200 (S&P ASX 200) 3 ticks 6.00 3 ticks 72.00
Bovespa Index 75 ticks 37.50 75 ticks 45.00
MSCI Taiwan 10 ticks 5.00 10 ticks 10.00
Hang Seng (HSI) 5 ticks 5.00 5 ticks 31.25
NSE Nifty Index 10 ticks 2.50 10 ticks 10.00

North American Shares 105 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5 * $ Value cTrader/MT5*
3 M Company 9 cents 9.00 9 cents 90.00
Activision Blizzard Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Adobe Systems 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Adobe Systems 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Advanced Micro Devices 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Aetna Inc 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
Agilent Technologies Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
AIG 8 cents 8.00 8 cents 80.00
Alcoa Inc 4 cents 4.00 10 cents 40.00
Altera Corporation 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Altria Group 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Amazon.com Inc 9 cents 9.00 9 cents 90.00
American Express Co 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Amgen Int'l 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Analog Devices 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Apple Computer Inc 35 cents 35.00 35 cents 350.00
Applied Materials 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
AT&T Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
AT&T Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Baidu 30 cents 30.00 30 cents 300.00
Bank of America 10 cents 10.00 10 cents 100.00
Boeing Co 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Bristol Myers Squibb 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Broadcom Corp 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Caterpillar 9 cents 9.00 9 cents 90.00
Charles Schwab Corp 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Chevron Corp 10 cents 10.00 10 cents 100.00
Cisco Systems 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Citigroup Inc 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
CME Group Inc 30 cents 30.00 30 cents 300.00
Coca Cola Company 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Comcast Corp 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
ConocoPhillips 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Costco Wholesale 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Dell Computer 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
DirecTV Group Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Disney 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Dupont Co 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
E*Trade Financial Corp 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
eBay Inc 8 cents 8.00 8 cents 80.00
EMC Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
ExxonMobil 11 cents 11.00 11 cents 110.00
First Solar Inc 15 cents 15.00 15 cents 150.00
Ford Motor Co 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
General Electric 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
Goldman Sachs 25 cents 25.00 25 cents 250.00
Google 90 cents 90.00 90 cents 900.00
Halliburton 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
Hewlett-Packard 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Home Depot 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Honeywell Int. 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
IBM 14 cents 14.00 14 cents 140.00
Intel Corp 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
International Paper Co 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Intuitive Surgical Inc 60 cents 60.00 60 cents 600.00
JDS Uniphase 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Johnson & Johnson 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
JPMorgan Chase 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Kraft Foods Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Las Vegas Sands Corp 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
Level 3 Communication 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
Lockheed Martin 12 cents 12.00 12 cents 120.00
Lowe's Companies Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
McDonalds 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Merck & Co 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
MGIC Investment Corp. 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Micron Technology 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
Microsoft Corp. 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Morgan Stanley 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
National Semiconductor 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Newmont Mining 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Nokia Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Nvidia Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
ON Semiconductor Corp 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00
Oracle Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
PepsiCo Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Pfizer 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Procter & Gamble 8 cents 8.00 8 cents 80.00
Qualcomm 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Research in Motion 14 cents 14.00 14 cents 140.00
Sears Holdings Corp 14 cents 14.00 14 cents 140.00
Sprint Nextel Corp 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Staples 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Starbucks 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Symantec Corp 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Sysco Corp 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Target Corp 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd 12 cents 12.00 12 cents 120.00
Texas Instruments 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Time Warner Inc 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
United Technologies Corp 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
United Therapeutics Corp 15 cents 15.00 15 cents 150.00
US Steel Corp 18 cents 18.00 18 cents 180.00
Valero Energy 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Verizon Communications 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Visa Inc 9 cents 9.00 9 cents 90.00
VMware Inc 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Wal-Mart Stores Inc 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Walt Disney Company 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Wells Fargo & Company 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Western Digital Corp 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Whirlpool Corp 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Whole Foods Market 8 cents 8.00 8 cents 80.00
Yahoo Inc 2 cents 2.00 2 cents 20.00

European Shares* 78 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5* $ Value cTrader/MT5*
3i Group Plc 25 cents 25.00 25 cents 250.00
Adidas AG 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Alcatel-Lucent 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Allianz SE 16 cents 16.00 16 cents 160.00
Anheuser-Busch InBev 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
ArcelorMittal 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Astrazeneca Plc 200 cents 200.00 200 cents 2,000.00
AXA SA 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
BAE Systems Plc 25 cents 25.00 25 cents 250.00
Barclays Plc 75 cents 75.00 75 cents 750.00
BASF SE 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Bayer AG 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
Beiersdorf AG 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
BMW AG 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
BNP Paribas 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Bouygues 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
BP Plc 95 cents 95.00 95 cents 950.00
BT Group Plc 35 cents 35.00 35 cents 350.00
Cable & Wireless Plc 20 cents 20.00 20 cents 200.00
Carrefour 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Commerzbank AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Continental AG 15 cents 15.00 15 cents 150.00
Credit Agricole 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Daimler AG 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Deutsche Bank 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
Deutsche Boerse 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Deutsche Lufthansa 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Deutsche Post 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Deutsche Postbank AG 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Deutsche Telekom 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Dixon's Retail Plc 15 cents 15.00 15 cents 150.00
E.ON AG 16 cents 16.00 16 cents 160.00
EADS 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Ericsson 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
France Telecom 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Fresenius Medical Care KGaA 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
GDF Suez 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
GEA Group AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
GlaxoSmithKline Plc 150 cents 150.00 150 cents 1,500.00
Groupe Danone 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
HeidelbergCement AG 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Henkel AG & Co KGaA 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
HSBC Holdings Plc 150 cents 150.00 150 cents 1,500.00
Infineon Tech AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
ING Groep 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Invensys Plc 38 cents 38.00 38 cents 380.00
J Sainsbury Plc 45 cents 45.00 45 cents 450.00
K+S AG 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Lanxess AG 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Linde AG 10 cents 10.00 10 cents 100.00
Lloyds Banking Group Plc 75 cents 75.00 75 cents 750.00
MAN SE 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Marks & Spencer Plc 55 cents 55.00 55 cents 550.00
Merck KGaA 6 cents 6.00 6 cents 60.00
Metro AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Muenchener Rueck AG 18 cents 18.00 18 cents 180.00
Prudential Plc 85 cents 85.00 85 cents 850.00
Puma AG 20 cents 20.00 20 cents 200.00
Renault 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Rolls Royce Group Plc 50 cents 50.00 50 cents 500.00
Royal Bank of Scotland Group 25 cents 25.00 25 cents 250.00
Royal Dutch Shell 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
RSA Insurance Group Plc 35 cents 35.00 35 cents 350.00
RWE AG 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
SABMiller Plc 125 cents 125.00 125 cents 1,250.00
Sanofi-Aventis 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
SAP AG 8 cents 8.00 8 cents 80.00
SGL Carbon AG 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Siemens AG 5 cents 5.00 5 cents 50.00
Stada Arzneimittel AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Tesco Plc 55 cents 55.00 55 cents 550.00
ThyssenKrupp AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
TUI AG 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Unilever Plc 175 cents 175.00 300 cents 1,750.00
Vivendi 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Vodafone Group Plc 45 cents 45.00 45 cents 450.00
Volkswagen Group 90 cents 90.00 90 cents 900.00
Xstrata Plc 75 cents 75.00 75 cents 750.00

Asia Pacific Shares 33 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5* $ Value cTrader/MT5*
AMP Limited 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
ANZ Bank 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Brambles Industries Ltd 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
National Australia Bank Ltd 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Origin Energy Ltd 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Qantas Airway Limited 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
QBE Insurance Group Ltd 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Telstra Corporation Ltd 3 cents 3.00 3 cents 30.00
Westfield Group 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Westpac Banking Corp 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Woolworth's Limited 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Canon Inc 5 yens 5.00 5 yens 50.00
Honda Motor Co 5 yens 5.00 5 yens 50.00
Panasonic Corp 3 yens 3.00 3 yens 30.00
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group 3 yens 3.00 3 yens 30.00
Mizuho Financial Group 3 yens 3.00 3 yens 30.00
Nintendo Company Ltd 50 yens 50.00 50 yens 500.00
Nippon Steel Corp 4 yens 4.00 4 yens 40.00
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp 5 yens 5.00 5 yens 50.00
Nissan Motor Corp 3 yens 3.00 3 yens 30.00
Sony Corp 5 yens 5.00 5 yens 50.00
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Corp 5 yens 5.00 5 yens 50.00
Toyota Motor Corp 5 yens 5.00 5 yens 50.00
Bharti Airtel 1.25 rupees 1.25 1.25 rupees 12.50
Infosys Technologies Limited 2.50 rupees 2.50 2.50 rupees 25.00
Reliance Communications 1.00 rupees 1.00 1.00 rupees 10.00
Reliance Industries Limited 5.00 rupees 5.00 5.00 rupees 50.00
Reliance Infrastructure 1.50 rupees 1.50 1.50 rupees 15.00
State Bank of India 2.00 rupees 2.00 2.00 rupees 20.00
Tata Motors Limited 0.50 rupees 0.50 0.50 rupees 5.00
Tata Power Company Limited 1.50 rupees 1.50 1.50 rupees 15.00
Tata Steel 0.75 rupees 0.75 0.75 rupees 7.50
Wipro Technologies 0.75 rupees 0.75 0.75 rupees 7.50

Foreign Exchange 32 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5* $ Value cTrader/MT5*
EUR/USD 1 pip 1.00 1 pip 10.00
USD/JPY 2 pips 2.00 2 pips 20.40
USD/CHF 2 pips 2.00 2 pips 21.50
GBP/USD 3 pips 3.00 3 pips 30.00
USD/CAD 3 pips 3.00 3 pips 38.40
AUD/USD 3 pips 3.00 3 pips 30.00
EUR/JPY 3 pips 3.00 3 pips 38.40
EUR/GBP 3 pips 3.00 3 pips 46.50
EUR/CHF 3 pips 3.00 3 pips 42.00
GBP/CHF 4 pips 4.00 4 pips 84.00
GBP/JPY 7 pips 7.00 7 pips 89.60
EUR/CAD 7 pips 7.00 7 pips 67.20
NZD/USD 5 pips 5.00 4 pips 40.00
USD/SEK 40 pips 4.00 75 pips 127.50
EUR/SEK 40 pips 5.60 75 pips 127.50
USD/NOK 40 pips 6.80 75 pips 127.50
EUR/NOK 40 pips 6.80 75 pips 127.50
USD/ZAR 80 pips 9.40 70 pips 140.00
USD/MXN 30 pips 2.50 35 pips 70.00
CHF/JPY 4 pips 4.00 4 pips 51.20
NZD/JPY n.a. n.a. 5 pips 64.00
AUD/JPY n.a. n.a. 3 pips 38.40
CAD/JPY n.a. n.a. 4 pips 51.20
EUR/AUD n.a. n.a. 9 pips 90.00
AUD/NZD n.a. n.a. 20 pips 150.00
AUD/CAD n.a. n.a. 6 pips 57.60
GBP/CAD n.a. n.a. 8 pips 76.80
GBP/NZD n.a. n.a. 25 pips 187.50
GBP/AUD n.a. n.a. 11 pip 110.00
AUD/CHF n.a. n.a. 4 pips 42.40
CAD/CHF n.a. n.a. 4 pips 42.40
NZD/CHF n.a. n.a. 8 pips 84.80

Forex Futures 7 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5* $ Value cTrader/MT5*
EUR 3 pips 3.00 10 pips 100.00
JPY 3 pips 3.00 10 pips 100.00
CHF 4 pips 4.00 10 pips 100.00
GBP 4 pips 4.00 10 pips 100.00
AUD 4 pips 4.00 10 pips 100.00
CAD 4 pips 4.00 10 pips 100.00
NZD 4 pips 4.00 10 pips 100.00

Commodities 10 instruments

Instrument ActTrader $ Value ActTrader cTrader/MT5* $ Value cTrader/MT5*
U.S. 30 Year T-Bond (Futures) 50/1,000ths 2.50 50/1,000ths 100.00
U.S. 10 Year T-Note (Futures) 50/1,000ths 2.50 50/1,000ths 100.00
German Bund 6 ticks 6.00 6 ticks 94.50
Crude Oil (Light Sweet) 4 cents 4.00 4 cents 40.00
Natural Gas 3 cents 15.00 3 cents 300.00
Gold (Spot) 45 cents 4.50 45 cents 45.00
Silver (Spot) 5 cents 50.00 4 cents 200.00
Platinum (Spot) 5 dollars 25.00 5 dollars 250.00
Palladium (Spot) 5 dollars 50.00 5 dollars 500.00
Copper Futures 2 cents 200.00 2 cents 2,000.00
*Typical spreads under normal market conditions. Spreads depend on current market conditions and may vary, causing them to be narrower or wider.
Account types

Margin Requirements & Policies

GCI's margin requirements are the most advantageous in the industry. Pick your platform to see the numbers.

ActTrader Account

Forex margin
$25
per lot
Individual shares
5%
of position value

5% on individual shares, $25 per lot on Forex instruments. Click below for exact margin requirements on each product.

View contract specifications

cTrader/MetaTrader Account

Forex margin
$250
per lot ($25 per 0.1)
Max leverage
400:1
~0.25% margin
Individual shares
5%
of position value
Indices & commodities
~1%
of position value

$250 per lot on Forex, $25 per 0.1 lots. Equivalent to approximately 0.25% margin or 400:1 leverage. 5% on individual shares. About 1% for indices and commodities.

View contract specifications
Why our margin requirements stay so low

GCI is able to maintain these low margin requirements by enabling automatic liquidation of positions once a margin call is reached. This policy also provides for the protection of client account balances in the event of rapid price movements.

Traders can monitor both usable margin and used margin in real-time from the Account Information window of the online trading platform. Positions are automatically closed once usable margin drops below zero.

When does a margin call trigger?

A margin call is reached if a client's account equity falls below the required margin. For example, in an ICTS Forex account, if a client has 10 lots of open positions a margin call will occur if account equity drops below $500. At this point, some or all of the client's open positions will be closed immediately at current prices.

Margin call example
Open position
10 lots
Margin per lot
$50
Used Margin (10 × $50)
$500
MC triggers when equity <
$500
Lesson
Walk through a full example

Step-by-step lesson on Equity, Used Margin, Usable Margin, and how a margin call is triggered — with screenshots from the ActTrader platform.

Start the lesson
Pro tip
How to avoid margin calls

GCI encourages clients to avoid margin calls by either using stop loss orders or maintaining adequate funds in the account relative to position size.

Worked example

More on CFD Margins

Share CFDs are traded in lots that are equivalent in size to 100 shares each. Indices, Forex and Commodities are also traded in "lots".

Example: buying 1 lot of IBM CFD

A trader can purchase 1 lot of a CFD on IBM at $90, for a total position value of $9,000. The required margin for this trade is $450.

The numbers
CFD lot size
100 shares
IBM share price
$90
Position value (100 × $90)
$9,000
Required margin (5%)
$450

Please see contract specifications for further information on contract sizes.

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