Our Markets.com review found key strengths in the Markets.com trading platform which has great sentiment, technical and fundamental analysis for forex and CFD products. Read what we think of Markets.com and its features.
Markets.com is a market maker that offers commission-free trading via its Markets.com account when trading forex and CFD products. The broker’s strength lies in its trading platform called Markets.com which offers a wealth of market sentiment, technical and fundamental tools for trading. Markets.com also offers MetaTrader 4 and 5 as other platform options.
Markets.com offers a standard account, which means it is a spread-only account. With this account, there are no commission charges for forex and CFDs as trading fees are included in your spreads.
With the Markets.com account, you get the following features:
| Minimum lot trading Size | 0.1 | Trading Platforms | Marketsx, MetaTrader 4 MetaTrader 5 Marketsx Mobile Marketsi (DMA Share Dealing and Investment Strategy Builder) |
| Maximum lot trading size | No Max | Margin Call | 100% |
| Minimum account opening | $100 | Stop Out | 50% |
| Automation / Expert Advisors | Only with MetaTrader Platforms | Server Location | London |
| Social Trading | ✘ | Negative Balance Protection | ✔ |
| Hedging | ✔ | Guaranteed Stop-Loss Order | ✘ |
| Scalping | ✔ | Islamic Account Available? | ✔ |
| Trading Model | Market Maker / Dealing Desk | Professional Account Available? | ✔ |
With the Markets.com standard account, you will have access to the Markets.com trading app by default. Should you wish to access MetaTrader 4 (MT4) or MetaTrader 5 (MT5) you will need a MetaTrader account.
Signing up with MetaTrader has several advantages, including:
The standard account is a retail investor account available to all Markets.com clients worldwide however leverage will vary depending on where in the world you are located. Traders in the UK, Europe and Australia can apply for a professional account which allows increased leverage.
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*Your capital is at risk ‘79.90% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
Markets.com is a dealing desk broker or market maker. This explains why the broker only offers a standard account. While spreads may seem wide compared to STP / ECN brokers with no dealing desk, it is important to remember there are no commission costs for all CFD products.
65 currency pairs are available consisting of majors, minors and exotics.
One of the key features of this CFD broker is its transparency. Markets.com provide “real execution stats for informed decision making”. They provide execution statistics so you can see what is happening with your orders, they want you to be confident that the price quote will be delivered or bettered. To achieve this, the broker provides quarterly updates on slippage results from its execution infrastructure.
In 2019, 86% of orders had no slippage or positive slippage. This can be broken down into 71.25% of orders being delivered at the quoted price, 14.96% of clients’ orders changing in their favour and 13.79% slipping negatively. 2020 has been a little more volatile, perhaps a reflection of the climate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, Markets.com was awarded Europe’s most transparent broker at the 2019 Global Forex Awards.
Markets.com is an internationally regulated broker which means leverage (sometimes called margin) for forex varies depending on which entity you join Markets.com from and the regulator for that country.
Regulators in Europe, the UK and Australia all have the same leverage requirements. WIth tighter leverage for retail traders and more flexible leverage for professional traders who meet qualification requirements.
Retail traders who join Markets.com from one of these regions, should expect the following leverage:
Professional traders (if you qualify) have more for more generous regulation, as professional traders are considered to have the skills and resources when trading with High Leverage Forex Brokers.
Leverage for pro traders are as followers
Markets.com uses regulation from Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) for all traders in Africa and British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI.FSC) for all traders outside all other countries not yet mentioned. Maximum leverage for these regulators is consistent with leverage available for those defined as professional traders by ESMA.
| Asset | FCA And CySEC retail (The UK and Europe) | FCA And CySEC professional (The UK and Europe) | ASIC (Australia) | FSCA (Africa) | BVI FSA (All Others) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major Forex Pairs | 30:1 | 300:1 | 30:1 | 300:1 | 300:1 |
| Minor and Exotic Forex Pairs | 20:1 | 300:1 | 20:1 | 300:1 | 300:1 |
| Major Indices | 20:1 | 200:1 | 20:1 | 200:1 | 200:1 |
| Non-Major Indices | 10:1 | 200:1 | 10:1 | 200:1 | 200:1 |
| Gold | 20:1 | 200:1 | 20:1 | 200:1 | 200:1 |
| Commodities | 10:1 | 150:1 | 10:1 | 150:1 | 150:1 |
| Equities | 5:1 | 10:1 | 5:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| Cryptocurrencies | 2:1 | 10:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
Trading with leverage involves high risk as CFDs are complex instruments. Traders should ensure they trade responsibly when using any forex broker that offers leveraged trading.
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*Your capital is at risk ‘79.95% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
Markets.com offers a choice of Markets.com, MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 trading platforms.
This is Markets.com trading app is built to the needs of broker’s clients who wish to be mobile. Available via iOS and Android app stores, the platform is suitable for phones and tablets with these operating systems.
Markets.com offers several features that distinguish it from other platforms on the market. These include:
Perhaps the main feature that differentiates Markets.com in a crowded market for trading platforms is the range of market sentiment tools. Sentiment tools help relay the market’s thoughts about an asset, these are generally best for short-term decisions. Tools include:
Technical Tools available with Markets.com include:
Fundamental Tools include:
While the Markets.com app has some good selling points, in some circumstances you may prefer to use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 trading platforms.
Fortunately, Markets.com allows you to get the best from Markets.com and also MetaTrader. All traders that sign up for a Standard account will have access to the Markets.com platform, this allows you to get many of the trading tools Markets.com offers.
To get access to MT4 or MT5 you then sign up to access MetaTrader. This will be a different account, meaning you won’t be able to transfer your trading data between the two platforms, but you will be able to further your choice of trading features and use each platform when best suited.
Some reasons to use MT4 or MT5 over Markets.com include:
MetaTrader 4 social trading (Expert Advisors) is the most popular but eToro has the most popular copy trading community and is recommended if you prefer this trading approach. MetaTrader 4 is best for traders looking to trade forex and other CFDs that don’t go through an exchange when trading. In 2018, MetaQuotes announced new developments for MT4 will cease, meaning this platform may not be the best option if you do not have previous experience with the platform.
MetaTrader 5 can be considered an upgrade on MT4, it not only offers more features but also allows you to trade a greater range of CFDs. MT5 has faster speed due to its 64-bit processing and more advanced backtesting than its predecessor.
If you do choose a MetaTrader platform, it is worth noting that some add-on apps can be expensive to unlock and Markets.com do not offer a VPS service. A VPS service can help traders get the most from Expert Advisors, so you may need to arrange your own.
Markets.com offers over 2,200 instruments when trading CFDs. This makes the broker a great option if you are looking to diversify your investments. The Markets.com tools provide lots of sentiment, technical and fundamental tools that will give you lots of insights when trading these products.
CFDs available for trade include when using Markets.com include:
(available to UK residents only)
UK residents have the extra option of spread betting. Spread betting is similar to CFD trading in that one is speculating on movements of the underlying asset and both are leveraged products however there are a few key differences to note:
Spread betting is popular in the UK as there are no capital gains taxes, as you don’t own the asset. This presents an opportunity to save when it comes to profits. Unlike with CFDs, losses cannot be claimed with your tax return.
Markets.com allows spread betting with currencies, indices, commodities, shares and ETFs.
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*Your capital is at risk ‘79.90% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
Markets.com has a solid variety of outreach for customer support including live chat and dedicated phone support which is available 24/5 from Mon 00:00 to Friday 23:55 PM (GMT +2) which is Sun 22:00 PM – Friday 21:55 UK time and an online query form. Phone support is also available with local contacts available in several European countries, Australia and South Africa (for Africa) and a range of languages such as Italian, French, Arabic and Spanish.
Markets.com has a ‘Knowledge Centre’ section where a range of education and learning materials is available in 4 different ways.
XRay is a live streaming service available directly through the Markets.com trading app. As it is directly integrated into the platform, you never need to navigate away from your charts and trades. XRay has the following key features:
Markets.com in-house team of financial analysts discuss market news on a range of categories including CFD Trading, Commodities, Equities, Forex, Elections, Morning Notes to give you extra insight into your trades.
The Markets in-house team take a deeper look at financial, political and news issues that are likely to have an impact on your trades. Here analysts try to provide insight where basic background information is not enough.
This section tries to answer all your questions regarding Markets.com features, platforms and trading concepts such as Forex and how CFDs work.
To help you get the most of your Markets.com trading experience, a Best Demo Account For Options Trading is available which give you access to all the features available in the platform. This account is valid for 3 months and has unlimited virtual cash. This makes Markets.com offering one of the best available as most brokers only offer 1 month and limit the amount of virtual cash.
Markets.com offers a range of deposit methods including wire transfer, Visa and MasterCard credit cards. Skrill, Neteller, PayPal, Local Bank Transfer, Ideal, SoFort. Regardless of the chosen method for deposits, the minimum deposit required is 100 USD/EUR/GBP.
When making a withdrawal, Markets.com has the following minimum amounts
Markets.com charges no fees for deposit or withdrawals. Do note that some deposit methods are not available in some countries.
Markets.com is a global company operated by a number of regulated entities as part of the Finalto group (a constituent of Playtech, an FTSE 250 company that is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Markets.com is a broker that can be trusted, as Markets.com is regulated by several tier-1 entities.
The Markets.com group offers regulation
| Markets.com Safety | Regulator |
|---|---|
| Tier-1 | FCA ASIC CySEC |
| Tier-2 | |
| Tier-3 | FSC-BVI FSCA |
Markets.com offers guaranteed negative balance protection to all its clients. This applies to both retail and professional traders. Professional traders will especially appreciate this feature, as most brokers don’t provide negative balance protection to professional accounts.
Markets.com offers traders from France guaranteed stop-loss orders, as this is a requirement of the French regulator Autorité des Novés financiers (AMF).
Traders with Markets.com in the UK and Europe have access to up to EUR 20k (CySEC) and GBP 85k (FCA) compensation in the event the broker is unable to pay what you are owed.
Markets.com provides guidelines regarding how to protect yourself online from scams or fraudulent websites.
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*Your capital is at risk ‘79.95% of retail CFD accounts lose money’
100 USD/EUR/GBP is the minimum deposit requirement to open a live trading account at Markets.com. Markets.com supports 11 different account base currencies (USD/EUR/GBP/DKK/NOK/SEK/PLN/CZK/AUD/CHF/ZAR) with no additional charges. For deposits greater than USD 2,500, Markets.com will refund any external transaction fees charged by third-party providers.
Check also Pepperstone, which doesn’t have a minimum deposit policy.
Yes, Markets.com is considered a safe brokerage trading firm compliant with tier-one regulators (FCA, ASIC, CySEC). Markets.com is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme Limited (FSCS) in the UK (FCA) for UK clients. Clients are accounts are protected for up to GBP 85,000 should Markets.com be unable to pay in event of default
Client on the Europe mainland funds is protected by the Investor Compensation Fund (ICF) as required by CySEC. Compensation up to EUR 20,000 is available.
The best-regulated forex brokers in Europe to help you choose a trusted FX broker.
Markets.com supports several deposit and withdrawal methods including the traditional debit/credit cards and bank wire transfer and other electronic methods like Neteller, Skrill, PayPal, Fast Bank Transfers, Sofort, and iDeal. The minimum withdrawal amount is USD/EUR/GBP 5 and there are no withdrawal fees. Withdrawals are processed within 24 hours for E-wallets and up to 2-7 business days for credit cards.
Markets.com’s point of difference in a crowded market lies in its platforms and wealth of trading tools. The Markets.com trading platform offers 14 distinctive trading tools including a large range of sentiment tools you won’t find with other brokers. A good range of Forex pairs and a solid range of other CFD products is also available. These two features along with no commission forex trading and security through top-tier regulators make the broker a solid choice.
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Is Markets.com available in Australia?
In Australia, Markets.com is registered as Finalto (Australia) Pty Ltd (ACN 158 641 064) and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (“ASIC”) under license no.424008.
As Markets.com is regulated by ASIC, Australian traders can use this broker