CFDs are priced differently depending on various factors. Here, we’ll run through how we price our markets by asset class, detailing the way in which prices are derived from those of exchanges and other institutions.
We derive our cryptocurrency prices by taking sell and buy prices from various well-known cryptocurrency exchanges. We then aggregate these prices to give us a consolidated mid-price which we then use to wrap our own spread around. This provides a much more stable spread through different times of the day.
Example
Let's look at how we price Bitcoin (BTC) at a hypothetical point in time.
We draw on current pricing from three exchanges of $99,500/$99,700, $99,550/$99,750, and $99,520/$99,720. Then, we calculate the mid-prices and aggregate them for a price of $99,623.
To this price, we apply a spread of $200* to make the Capital.com price $99,523/$99,723.
For our shares pricing, we take the underlying exchange sell and buy prices of each stock and then apply a markup to these prices. This means you’re trading on the ‘true’ prices from the underlying market with a small adjustment for our fee. It also means our price will reflect fluctuations in the underlying market spread due to changes in liquidity.
Example
Let’s say one physical stock in the underlying market has a sell price of $99.95 and a buy price of $100.05.
When you trade the stock with us as a derivative (such as a CFD), we’ll apply a fixed markup to this price of $0.05 either side, making our sell price $99.90 and our buy price $100.10. This means our spread is 0.20.
If the underlying market widens to 99.80/100.20, our fixed markup of 0.05 makes our price 99.75/100.25. This means our spread is now 0.50.
Unlike the rest of our offerings, spot forex and metals are not traded on a centralised exchange in the underlying market. This means there’s no central reference point for brokers to derive their price from and so typically prices are calculated through a range of OTC (over-the-counter) counterparties. These can range from investment banks to other brokers.
These prices are subject to variable spreads depending on market conditions. At Capital.com, we aggregate them and subsequently add a small additional spread (our transaction fee) depending on the market.
Example
Let’s look at how we price EUR/USD at a given point.
We aggregate pricing from three counterparties of 1.12345/1.12355, 1.12350/1.12360, and 1.12348/1.12358, for a consolidated price of 1.12348/1.12358.
To this price, we apply a spread of 0.00006* to make the Capital.com price 1.12345/1.12361.
Our cash index pricing is derived from our price providers’ mid-price and subtracting/adding spread.
We fix our index spreads based on times throughout the day, usually to reflect changes in the underlying liquidity of the market. Our spread will typically be widest when the underlying futures market is closed, and tightest during the main share-trading session.
As cash indices are tradeable in the underlying market. Many price providers, including ours, will derive their cash price from taking the futures price and adjusting for fair value, which is expected dividends of the constituent stocks and the relevant market interest rates.
Fair value represents what the index should be worth in a perfect market without arbitrage opportunities.
You can trade on both commodity spot prices (also sometimes called ‘undated commodities’) and commodity futures with us.
How we price commodity futures markets
We price our commodity futures by adding our spread to the underlying market price. The price you trade at already includes the spread.
Spreads can change. Please check individual market details in the app or web platform for the latest figures.
The exchanges that we source our commodity futures prices from are:
- Brent Oil: ICE Futures Europe
- Carbon Emissions: ICE Futures Europe
- Crude Oil: New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
- Cocoa US: ICE Futures US
- Natural Gas: New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
All contracts expire at specified future dates and are cash-settled, so you’ll never take delivery of a commodity.
How we price commodity spot markets
We determine prices for our spot commodity markets using the two nearest futures contracts of a commodity, as these are usually the most traded.
Over time, our undated price gradually shifts from the price of the nearest contract to the next one to avoid the need for an expiry date (sometimes called a rollover date).
In our system:
- The ‘front month contract’ (the one that expires soonest) is called ‘A’.
- The ‘back month contract’ (the one that expires second soonest) is called ‘B’.
Our price (P0 and P1 in the diagram below) gradually moves from the price of ‘A’ towards the price of ‘B’ between these two expiry points.
The price of ‘B’ can be higher or lower than the price of ‘A’, though in the example below, it’s higher.
When the front month contract ‘A’ expires, we transition to the next set of contracts. This means ‘B’ becomes the new ‘A’, and the contract that expires after the new ‘A’ becomes the new ‘B’. This process continues, so there is always a smooth transition from one contract to the next.
This means that when we transition, our pricing will be based 100% on the front month contract, and then move in a linear fashion towards the back month.
When trading these (as with other markets), you’ll pay an overnight holding cost, which for commodities has two parts:
Admin fee: this is a fixed fee of 0.01096% charged daily.
Daily premium adjustment: this reflects the daily movement of our price from the front month (A) to the back month (B). You will either pay or receive this adjustment, based on the direction of your trade.
When the price difference between A and B is larger, the daily adjustment is also larger.
The price difference between the two contracts can vary greatly depending on the market conditions, most obviously in commodities that are affected by seasonal demand (eg natural gas).
Natural Gas CFD example
To calculate the overnight adjustment for Natural Gas, we consider the daily movement between the two futures (the ‘daily premium adjustment’ or ‘DPA’) and the admin fee (‘AF’).
Overnight adjustment = DPA% + AF%
AF is calculated as:
Price x 0.01096%
DPA is calculated as:
(B - A) / (T2 - T1) x 1 / A x 100
Where:
- T1 is the previous expiry date (27/05/24 for this example)
- T2 is the current expiry date (24/06/24 for this example)
- A is the price of the front-month future
- B is the price of the back future
In this case T2 - T1 gives 28 days.
Example data
| Natural Gas |
Front month (A) Jul (NGN24) |
Back month (B) Aug (NGQ24) |
|
| 27/05/24 | 2.744 | 2.744 | 2.791 |
Calculation assuming long 1 contract at a price of 2.744:
1. Daily premium adjustment
DPA = (2.791 - 2.744) / 28 x 1 / 2.744 x 100 ≈ 0.0601%
2. Admin fee
AF = 2.744 x 0.01096%
3. Total overnight adjustment
Overnight adjustment = 0.0601% + 0.01096% = 0.071%
The cost to hold a long position overnight would therefore be 0.0711%, comprising the daily premium adjustment and the admin fee. If you were short Natural Gas, you would receive 0.0601% and pay 0.01096%, resulting in a net credit of 0.0492%.
These percentages represent the daily cost or credit for holding a Natural Gas position overnight, based on the example data. The rates will fluctuate as the prices of the two contracts converge or diverge.
Find out more about overnight funding
Overnight funding is calculated differently depending on the asset you trade. For more about these costs per asset class, please visit our charges and fees page.
*Capital.com spreads are subject to ongoing review; the figures provided here are for illustrative purposes only.