LONDON, September 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Global markets tumbled after the Federal Reserve announced 'Operation Twist', a move designed to lower long term borrowing costs, as investors were left reeling from a sharply negative tone and guidance over the headwinds facing the US economic recovery. 

In a widely expected move, the Fed announced it would sell $400bn of short term Treasury bonds and re-invest them into longer term debt in an effort to lower longer term borrowing costs. 

The reaction to the move has been a sharply negative one thus far. After the announcement, the Dow Jones fell 2.3% to close on its lows, whilst Asian indices fell between 2% and 4.8% respectively and this locked in a very negative start for European indices as a result. 

The FTSE 100, DAX and CAC all quickly floundered upon market opening, falling well over 3% with resource and insurance stocks suffering in particular, and closely followed by major banks. 

Spread betting provider City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/) currently offers 1 point spreads on four major indices - the UK 100, Wall Street, Germany 30 and France 40 - during market hours. With City Index, it is possible to place a trade even when the markets are on the decline. Find out more about the City Index spreads at http://www.cityindex.co.uk/1point-spreads/ or learn more tax-free* spread betting with City Index.

Below we give  an overview of the four major indices:

UK 100

The share index of the UK's 100 highest stocks. As London is the financial centre of Europe, the UK 100 is Europe's most important index. The UK 100 represents around 80% of the London Stock Exchange's market capital. All companies listed on the UK 100 must include PLC in their name, indicating they are public limited companies. Trading hours are from 08:00 to 16:30 GMT.

Wall Street

The Wall Street index is based on 30 large publicly owned companies. Unlike the UK 100, it is always the same 30 companies in the index, which is something to bear in mind when formulating your spread betting strategy. Market trading opens at 14:30 and closes at 21:00 GMT, during which time you can take advantage of City Index's 1 point spreads (http://www.cityindex.co.uk/1point-spreads/).

Germany 30

The Germany 30 is measured by the performance of the 30 largest German companies, based on order book volume and market capitalisation. The companies featured in the Germany 30 are decided on quarterly review. The market hours fall between 08:00 and 14:30 GMT.

France 40

As with the Germany 30, the companies listed in the France 40 are included based on quarterly review.

Whichever index you choose to spread bet on, be sure to know the risks involved. City Index offers a range of seminars to increase your knowledge of spread betting and risk management. Learn more at http://www.cityindex.co.uk/learn-to-trade/seminars.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 for individuals in over 50 countries worldwide. We provide access to a wide range of instruments including margined foreign exchange, contracts for difference (CFDs) and, in the UK, spread betting.

We constantly look to widen the range of assets we offer, 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 service and support.

http://www.cityindex.co.uk/

SOURCE City Index