LONDON, September 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

At City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/) you can take a position on the FTSE irrespective of whether the markets are climbing or declining.  Here's information on how you can spread bet on the FTSE with City Index with our introduction to trading on the FSTE 100.

What is the FTSE 100?

The FTSE 100 is a weighted index of the highest-performing 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange. Together, these 100 companies represent about 80% of the stock market's entire value. The higher a company's market capitalisation, the greater influence it has on where the FTSE moves. Trading starts at 08:00 and continues until 16:30 (UK time) when the closing auction begins, with closing values taken at 16:35.

What influences its movement?

By their nature, FTSE 100 companies are the largest in the UK. Consequently both domestic and international news activity can have a bearing on their price movements.

At the same time, large companies tend to experience less volatility than smaller ones. While this reduces your profit potential in trading, it also lowers the chances of a dramatic price swing catching you by surprise.

Market Trading News

After yesterday's sharp losses endured by global stock markets on fears of a worldwide slowdown in activity, investors are looking to the G20 to deliver credible coordinated action to help calm equity markets and maintain global growth.

• Yesterday, the Dow closed down 391 points while the FTSE 100 dipped below its pivotal 5000 level for the first time in a month, experiencing losses of 1.5%. Trading has been very choppy today, with investor sensitivity high and reacting to any news, comment or speculation out of the G20. 

• An unexpected communiqué from the G20 early this morning hinted as much that there will be action, and this was enough to kick markets off in positive territory, but investors are unwilling to bet too much on this until they hear exactly what action is being proposed. 

Take a view on the FTSE 100

You can try trading the FTSE with a virtual cash balance through a City Index demo account. Sign up and get started in minutes at:

http://www.cityindex.co.uk/learn-to-trade/demo-account.aspx.

Spread betting and CFD trading are leveraged products which can result in losses greater than your initial deposit. Ensure you fully understand the risks.

About City Index:

Today more and more individual traders are discovering the benefits of derivatives, and many of them are discovering them through a City Index trading platform.

As a group, we transact in excess of 1.5 million trades every month in over 50 countries. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, CFD trading and, in the UK, spread betting.

We constantly look to improve the performance of our platforms and expand the range of services we provide. The result is that our customers benefit from innovative trading tools with transparent pricing, competitive spreads, and a high standard of customer support. For more information, visit http://www.cityindex.co.uk/.

SOURCE City Index