OvalX Spread Betting

2. Spreadex – Top Spread Betting App

Of the 16 brokers I tested, Spreadex had the best spread betting app allowing you to analyse the broker’s 17,000 markets like GBP/USD on the go. Spreadex’s trading app includes a bunch of features that I found helpful for managing my trading account such as quick access to watchlists and 35+ technical indicators like moving averages.

One indicator I liked was the Pro Trend Lines tool that automatically placed support, resistance, and trend lines based on the indicator’s algorithm where price action has been heavily traded. I think this is one of the app’s top features as keeping track and plotting these lines on a mobile device can be fiddly.

Using the app on my iPhone to switch between charts and markets was responsive, allowing me to flick through my watchlists without any lag. This may sound basic but I’ve tested over 15 platforms and most are cumbersome and slow at best, so Spreadex’s app was an enjoyable experience compared to the others.

Spreadex has a decent range of 10,000 financial markets to spread bet on, challenging other top brokers like IG Markets and CMC Markets. You can trade forex, indices, commodities, ETFs and stocks for retail traders, but if you are a professional trader then Spreadex is the only broker to offer spread betting currencies.

In my tests, Spreadex excelled with its spreads recording 7/8 below industry spreads making it a great option if you focus on forex majors. The broker’s lowest spread was EUR/USD averaging 0.90 pips, cheaper than the industry average of 1.0 pips and the second lowest out of the 16 brokers tested.

My Take on Spreadex

Spreadex is a top spread betting broker with its 10,000+ markets and tight spreads which is why I gave them my second-highest score of 96/100 in my review. The broker pairs its service with its mobile app nicely, delivering a solid trading experience on a mobile device with enough trading tools to analyse the markets on the go.

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65% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

3. OANDA – Best Spread Betting Broker For Beginners

During my tests, I found that OANDA had a great selection of features that would appeal to a beginner to help you go from a demo account to live trading. All of these features are on the OANDA Trade platform, one of three platforms OANDA has for spread betting which also includes TradingView and MetaTrader 4.

Out of the brokers tested, the OANDA Trade had the lowest stake sizes letting you set your bet size to £0.01p per point. This is much lower compared to its competitors that force you to bet a minimum of 50p to £1 per point, impacting smaller accounts quickly if you take losses.

Whereas with 1p per point, you won’t get rich from it but you won’t take big losses if you make a mistake. I think this is great if you’re new as you need to build confidence with smaller stakes and then you can scale once you are comfortable to risk more funds. Plus, with OANDA there is no minimum deposit so you can test your skills with smaller accounts using small stake sizes until you are ready to deposit larger sums.

I liked that OANDA Trade had guaranteed stop-loss orders (GLSO) too, as these will protect your bets from taking larger losses if your positions slip in volatile markets.

GLSOs are a stronger version of the traditional stop loss and will close your position at the price you set, regardless if there is a price available at the time. While traditional stop-loss orders may not execute until the next available price, which could cause you more losses.

You can use a guaranteed stop-loss order on the broker’s 100+ markets including 68 forex pairs and 29 commodities including metals like gold and energy such as crude oil.

OANDA also impressed me in its trading cost test, outperforming the industry average for 8/9 of the currency pairs tested.

As you can see in the table above, the two beginner-friendly markets performed the best with EUR/GBP and EUR/USD, averaging 1.2 pip and 0.8 pip, respectively, in the test

My Take on OANDA

I think OANDA is the best broker for beginners with its low trading costs from 0.8 pip and OANDA Trade platform delivering great features to ease into live trading. With access to £0.01p per point stake sizes, and guaranteed stop loss orders, the broker helps you control your financial risk rather than force larger stake sizes for beginners. During the tests, the broker scored 91/100 scoring top markets for its trading costs, customer service and trust which are top categories to consider if you are a beginner.

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76.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

4. IG Markets – Great Range of Spread Bet Markets

IG Markets has 17,000+ spread bet markets to speculate on which is the best out of the brokers I tried. The broker’s markets cover:

• 100+ forex pairs including majors, minors and exotics,
• 31 commodities like silver,
• 130+ indices including S&P 500 and FTSE 100
• 13,000 individual shares from Tescos to Tesla
• 5,000+ ETF markets like iShares Core S&P 500
• 14 bond markets from UK, US, and Germany

In addition to the markets above, I found you can also spread bet on options, forwards, and futures markets on select assets. Accessing these markets allows you to bet on longer-term ideas without paying overnight fees and still benefit from spread betting’s tax-free benefits.

For instance, if you opened a traditional spread bet and let it run for several days, you’d get charged an overnight fee for every night it remained open. Whereas with a futures contract, you pay a slightly wider spread to open the bet but you are not charged an overnight fee, saving you money on longer-term ideas.

It’s advantages like this that make IG Markets an attractive broker if you bet on multiple markets as you can use futures to hedge your portfolio in a bearish market.

IG Markets produced decent spreads from my testing having all 9 of the spreads tested achieve lower than their industry averages, making the broker low-cost across its 17,000+ markets.

As you can see from the table above, the broker had an average spread of 0.85 pips on EUR/USD, placing it second place overall for this pair. The broker also achieved first place for the lowest spread on AUD/USD with 0.82 pips, which surprisingly is also the broker’s lowest spread.

Beyond the low spreads and wide selection of markets, I found IG Markets also offered a decent choice of trading platforms which includes IG Trading platform, MetaTrader 4, and ProRealTime. In my tests only the IG Trading platform lets you spread bet on all of the broker’s markets, while MT4 had the least choice by not offering options or shares.

IG Trading platform is a decent all-rounder with great charts with 50+ indicators and on-chart trading, plus access to Signal Centre for automated forex signals. Signal Centre will help you make use of IG Market’s large trading catalogue as it will scan and find new trading ideas for you across the broker’s markets.

My Take on IG Markets

IG Markets achieved a solid rating of 86/100 in my broker testing producing solid scores for its trading costs, 17,000 markets, and decent trading platforms. I was impressed that you could bet on futures and options markets as not many brokers provide them, allowing for low-cost bets on longer-term trading ideas.

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69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

5. AvaTrade – Good Fixed Spreads Broker

AvaTrade stood out in my tests as the only broker that offers fixed spreads on its forex markets which are just as competitive as the variable spreads its competitors offer.

I think fixed spreads are a decent option if you day trade as these spreads do not widen when the markets become volatile around news announcements. This means your costs will be steady across the day and you don’t have to worry about waiting for volatility to lower to enter the market at a cheaper spread.

From my tests, AvaTrade impressed me with how low its fixed spreads were. EUR/USD is 0.90 pips, which puts it below the industry average of 1.0 and on par with Spreadex’s average spread.

From my findings above the broker’s overall spreads across the 9 currency pairs show that outside of the 8/9 pairs beat the industry average which is a positive. However, if you are looking to save on your trading fees then Pepperstone’s variable spreads may be a better option for you.

AvaTrade doesn’t have the largest selection of spread bet markets, with 150+ markets it’s one of the lowest out of the brokers available. With markets for forex, indices, commodities, and shares, AvaTrade still allows you to spread bet on popular markets like GBP/USD or FTSE 100. However, I think AvaTrade falls short on its markets if you like to bet on more volatile markets like exotic pairs or a better range for share spread betting.

As for spread betting trading platforms, you can choose between MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5. Both offer similar charting and trading tools including automated trading and custom indicators through the MQL4/MQL5 programming language.

However, the key difference is that MetaTrader 5 will let you spread bet on shares as MT4 doesn’t have the infrastructure to display shares on its platform. So if you want to bet on shares, MetaTrader 5 is your only choice with AvaTrade.

My Take on AvaTrade

AvaTrade is a unique pick for its fixed spreads which pair nicely if you day trade or automate your bets to keep your trading costs the same around market volatility. I gave AvaTrade a 48/100 as I found its spreads outside the majors were expensive and has a limited catalogue of 150+ markets is well below the competitors I’ve tested.

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66% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

Who Is OvalX?

OvalX was the rebranded name of ETX Capital in May 2022 after it was purchased by Guru Capital as a way to revive the broker. Before ETX Capital’s takeover, the broker had been running since 1965 evolving into an execution-only broker as online trading became popular.

Towards the end of OvalX, the broker had 16,500 active retail and professional traders on its books.

What Happened To OvalX?

On 17th March 2023, OvalX discontinued its financial operations after the parent company, Guru Capital could no longer invest in the broker as it was accumulating large losses.

Guru Capital invested in the rebranding of ETX Capital to OvalX, giving a new start and developing a new forex trading platform to attract new traders. Due to the competitiveness of the broker industry and tighter costs, OvalX wasn’t able to compete with other brokers like Pepperstone or OANDA.

Eventually, Guru Capital sold the broker’s client book to Capital.com before ceasing to operate in 2023. OvalX was placed into Member’s Voluntary Liquidation on 13 June 2024.