Our pick for CFD trading from Hong Kong is Pepperstone: it accepts Hong Kong residents, lets you hold your account in Hong Kong dollars, opens from $10 and runs MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView. It holds no SFC licence, so your account sits with an offshore Pepperstone company; Capital.com and XS are the alternatives, also offshore.
Short answer: Pepperstone is our first choice for CFDs from Hong Kong, provided you are comfortable with an offshore regulator instead of the SFC.
Pepperstone has no SFC licence. Its English international site is run by Pepperstone Markets Limited, licensed by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SIA-F217).
Hong Kong is a selectable country of residence on Pepperstone's sign-up page, and HKD is one of its ten account base currencies.
Retail leverage on Pepperstone's international site goes up to 1:200 on major forex, gold and major indices; SFC rules require licensed forex dealers to take at least 5% initial margin, which caps leverage at 20:1.
Capital.com serves Hong Kong through Capital Com Online Investments Ltd (SCB, SIA-F245) and offers HKD accounts to Hong Kong residents.
XS accepts Hong Kong sign-ups; its Elite account quotes EUR/USD from 0.1 pips with a $6 round-turn commission and a $500 minimum.
Which company opens your account
Pepperstone does not run a Hong Kong website or hold a licence from the Securities and Futures Commission. Hong Kong residents land on its English international site, whose footer names Pepperstone Markets Limited in Nassau, regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas under licence SIA-F217. Its Simplified Chinese site names a different firm, Pepperstone Financial Markets Limited, licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius (GB21026314). Pepperstone says the entity you register with is made clear during the application, so read the company name on your client agreement before you fund.
The same check applies to the alternatives. Capital.com's international site, where Hong Kong visitors are sent, is run by Capital Com Online Investments Ltd under SCB licence SIA-F245. XS lists eight group licences but does not say on its site which one serves Hong Kong. If you want an SFC-licensed firm instead, search the SFC public register by company name; Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited (CE AVD061) is one example of a broker licensed locally.
Our top pick
HKD base accounts, a $10 minimum, Standard or Razor pricing and five platforms, from Pepperstone Markets Limited (SCB, SIA-F217); no SFC licence.
XS publishes no loss percentage; its risk warning says it is possible to lose all your capital.
Pepperstone, Capital.com and XS are our partners. We may earn a commission if you open an account through our links. That does not change the facts on this page.
Your questions, answered
What's the best online trading platform in Hong Kong?
For CFDs, Pepperstone gives Hong Kong traders the widest platform choice: MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, its own web platform and app, and TradingView, although TradingView is only available on the Razor account. Capital.com offers its own web platform and app plus MT4, MT5 and TradingView, and XS sticks to MT4, MT5 and the XS app. If what you actually want is to own Hong Kong or US shares rather than trade CFDs, an SFC-licensed stockbroker is the better tool for that job.
Can you recommend a good CFD broker for beginners in Hong Kong?
Start with Pepperstone's Standard account. There is no commission except on share CFDs, so the spread is the only trading cost you need to track, and the minimum top-up is $10. Practise first on the free demo: Pepperstone, MT4 and MT5 demos expire 60 days after you create them, which is a useful deadline for testing a plan. Retail clients also get negative balance protection, so a fast market cannot leave you owing more than your deposit.
Which forex and CFD brokers can I use?
From Hong Kong you can open accounts with Pepperstone, Capital.com and XS, all through companies licensed outside Hong Kong; we checked each firm's own residence rules. IG's Hong Kong-facing site says its CFD accounts are provided by IG International Limited, authorised by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, so it is offshore too. Firms such as Saxo Capital Markets HK Limited hold SFC licences instead. Whatever you pick, look up the exact company name on its regulator's register before sending money.
Which CFD brokers in Hong Kong have the lowest fees?
It depends on what you trade, and Pepperstone is not the cheapest on every line. On forex commission, Fusion Markets advertises $2.25 per side, below the $3.50 per lot per side Pepperstone charges on Razor for MT4 and MT5; IC Markets charges the same $3.50. Pepperstone does keep non-trading costs low: no deposit fees, no inactivity or account-keeping fees, and only a $20 charge on international bank withdrawals. Holding your account in HKD also avoids conversion costs on Hong Kong dollar deposits.
What's the best broker for trading CFDs on US stocks from Hong Kong?
Pepperstone suits Hong Kong traders here because its US share CFDs can be traded around the clock on weekdays: more than 100 names are available 24/5, so you do not have to wait for the New York open late in the evening. It lists over 600 US shares in total, with commission of 2 US cents per share. Remember a CFD gives you price exposure only, with no ownership or voting rights; if you want the shares themselves, see our page on buying US stocks from Hong Kong.
Which CFD broker is best for day trading?
For intraday work we prefer Pepperstone's Razor account on cTrader, where commission on forex is a fixed $6 round trip per standard lot and spreads start from 0.0. Index day traders pay no commission at all: on HK50 the published minimum and average spread is 5 points on both accounts. Because day trades are closed before the 5pm New York rollover, you also avoid the overnight funding charges that add up for longer holds.
What's the best broker for scalping with tight spreads?
Pepperstone's own help pages say its Razor account is popular with scalpers, and the reason is the raw-spread model: interbank prices from 0.0 plus a fixed commission, so a tight market stays tight on your screen. It also states there is no dealer intervention in its execution. XS's Elite account is the alternative, with an average EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pips and a $6 round-turn commission, and its stop level is zero, so orders can sit close to price.
Which brokers offer share CFDs on Hong Kong stocks like Tencent and HSBC?
Pepperstone offers 46 share CFDs from the Hong Kong stock exchange, charged at 0.20% commission per side with no minimum. Its website does not publish the full list, so search the symbol list in the platform or demo for Tencent (0700) and HSBC (0005) before you fund. XS also lists Hong Kong share CFDs. These trade only while the exchange is open; at Pepperstone that is 04:31 to 10:59 server time with a lunch break, which is 09:31 to 15:59 in Hong Kong while server time is GMT+3.
What's the best CFD broker in Asia for active traders?
For high-volume traders in Asia, Pepperstone's active-trader programme is the strongest reason to pick it, but it is open only to Pepperstone Pro clients. Rebates start at $1 per forex lot once you trade 200 lots in a month, rise to $2 from 500 lots and $3 from 1,500 lots, and are paid into your account. A separate premium service, open to retail clients too, needs at least $15 million a month in notional volume for two consecutive quarters.
Which CFD brokers in Hong Kong have the fastest account opening?
None of the three publishes a guaranteed approval time, so treat any 'instant' claim with care. Pepperstone's process has four steps: register, answer its appropriateness questions, verify your identity and fund. While a live application is pending you can already trade on a TradingView demo, so the wait is not wasted. Approval is quickest when your proof of address shows the same name and Hong Kong address you typed into the form.
Which CFD broker offers the widest range of markets?
This is not Pepperstone's strength. IG's Hong Kong-facing site advertises more than 17,000 markets and Capital.com's international site more than 5,500 instruments, against Pepperstone's 1,350-plus CFDs. Pepperstone's list covers what most Hong Kong traders use, including 93 forex pairs, 26 indices with HK50, Hang Seng Tech and China A50, and 31 crypto CFDs. If you need thousands of single stocks, Capital.com or IG will give you more choice.
Which CFD brokers offer a free demo account?
All three of our picks offer free demos with virtual money. Pepperstone's rules differ by platform: cTrader and TradingView demos expire after 90 days without activity, while Pepperstone, MT4 and MT5 demos expire 60 days after creation and can be made permanent once your live account is approved. Capital.com charges nothing for its demo, and XS offers demos on its account types. A demo shows you platform and pricing, but not how you behave with real money at risk.
What are the best-rated CFD brokers in Hong Kong this year?
We do not publish star ratings, because ratings usually blend opinions and paid placements. What you can verify is published data: Capital.com's own site shows a 4.7 App Store rating, 4.6 on Google Play and 4.6 on Trustpilot, and Pepperstone says over 900,000 traders use its group globally. A better test than any score is to check the licence, read the client agreement and run a small withdrawal before you trade bigger amounts.
Which broker is best for trading Nvidia and Tesla CFDs?
Pepperstone is our pick, because both Nvidia and Tesla sit in its list of US share CFDs that trade 24 hours a day, five days a week. That lets you react from Hong Kong to US earnings, which usually land outside regular US hours, during your own morning or evening. Commission is 2 US cents per share on both Standard and Razor accounts. Capital.com also lists both stocks, with no commission and the cost built into its spread.
Published 2026-10-21. Informational only, not investment advice. CFDs are leveraged products and most retail accounts lose money.
Our top pick
HKD accounts, no commission
From 0.1 pips (Elite)