Pepperstone, our pick, offers Singapore residents 26 index CFDs with no commission and retail leverage up to 1:200 on major indices under its Bahamas licence. For leverage under Singapore rules, MAS-licensed IG Asia, CMC Markets Singapore, OANDA Asia Pacific and Phillip Nova offer index CFDs or futures with lower limits.
Short answer: Pepperstone is our index pick for cost and hours; local MAS-licensed providers are the choice if you want Singapore regulation.
Published minimum spreads at Pepperstone: US 500 0.4, Nasdaq 100 1, Dow 30 2, Germany 40 0.9, Japan 225 7, no commission.
Retail leverage: 1:200 on major indices, 1:100 on minor indices, so margin starts at 0.5%.
Pepperstone lists a Singapore index CFD, SCI25, and Asian indices including the Hong Kong 50, China A50 and Japan 225.
Index financing: reference rate plus or minus 2.5% a year, divided by 360, charged nightly.
Pepperstone does not publish Hong Kong 50 or China A50 spreads on its public pages.
Asian index hours in Singapore time
Pepperstone lists hours in platform time, which is GMT+3 during US daylight saving and GMT+2 the rest of the year. Converted to Singapore time for the US summer, its Hong Kong 50 trades about 9.15am to 12pm, 1pm to 4.30pm and 5.15pm to 3am; the China A50 from 9am to 4.30pm and 5pm to 4.45am; and the SCI25 Singapore index from 8.30am to 5.20pm and 5.50pm to 4.45am. The Japan 225 runs almost around the clock on weekdays.
Those evening sessions follow the futures markets, so liquidity is thinner than in the cash session and spreads can be wider. Check the platform's hours table before holiday weeks, when sessions change.
Our index pick
26 index CFDs including Asian and US benchmarks, no commission, US 500 from 0.4 points, 23/5 HSTECH and TAIEX on MT5 and cTrader, and perpetual US index CFDs.
Pepperstone's international site states that 80% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.
Index CFDs on MT5
Index CFDs on all its account types via MT4 and MT5, with dynamic leverage; Elite pricing from 0.1 pips on EUR/USD ($6 round-turn commission, $500 minimum) for FX traders who also want indices.
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
Which broker is best for trading indices?
Pepperstone is our pick, because index CFDs there carry no commission at all and its published minimum spreads are low, starting at 0.4 points on the US 500. The same account trades Asian, European and US benchmarks on MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView or its own platform. IG is the MAS-licensed alternative with guaranteed stops, useful on fast-moving indices.
Which broker has the lowest spread on the US 500?
Pepperstone publishes a minimum and average of 0.4 points on its US 500 CFD on both Standard and Razor accounts. That figure applies to the main US session; outside it, quotes are usually wider. Few Singapore-licensed brokers publish averages, so measure them yourself at 10pm Singapore time, when the US cash market is open.
Which broker has the lowest spread on the Nasdaq 100?
Pepperstone lists the Nasdaq 100 at a minimum and average of 1 point, with no commission. The Nasdaq 100 moves more in points than the US 500, so a 1-point spread is a smaller share of a typical move. There is also a Nasdaq 100 perpetual CFD, also quoted from 1 point, for longer holds without the nightly swap.
What is the spread on the Hong Kong 50 at Singapore brokers?
Pepperstone does not publish a Hong Kong 50 spread on its public index page, and we did not find published figures from the MAS-licensed providers either, so we will not quote one. Spreads on the Hang Seng tend to be tightest during the Hong Kong cash session and wider in its evening session. Open a demo and note the spread at 10am and again at 8pm Singapore time.
Which broker is cheapest for trading the Japan 225?
Pepperstone publishes a 7-point minimum spread on its Japan 225 CFD with no commission, and the contract trades nearly 23 hours a day on weekdays. Compare that with the Japan 225 quote at other providers in the Tokyo morning, which starts at 8am Singapore time. Overnight financing on a long position is often the bigger cost over several days.
What is the best broker for trading the Dow Jones from Singapore?
Pepperstone's US 30 CFD, its Dow Jones product, is quoted from 2 points with no commission and trades almost 23 hours on weekdays. The US cash open is 9.30pm Singapore time in the US summer and 10.30pm in winter, which is when most Dow moves happen. If you want MAS regulation, IG's Wall Street CFD is the local alternative and also has a weekend price.
Which broker has the lowest spread on the China A50?
We cannot name one, because Pepperstone does not publish its China A50 spread on its public pages and neither did the local providers we checked. Pepperstone does publish the hours: about 9am to 4.30pm and 5pm to 4.45am Singapore time in the US summer. The main FTSE China A50 futures contract is listed on SGX, so liquidity is concentrated in Singapore daytime hours, and that is when to judge the spread.
Which broker offers the widest range of stock indices?
IG advertises CFDs on 13,000 markets in Singapore and covers more indices than Pepperstone, whose list is 26 index CFDs plus three currency indices. Pepperstone's list includes the main ones Singapore traders use: US 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow 30, Japan 225, Hong Kong 50, China A50, Australia 200 and SCI25. Width only helps if you trade the extra markets.
Which brokers offer 24 hour index trading?
On weekdays, Pepperstone's US 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow 30 run nearly 23 hours, and its HSTECH, US400 and TAIEX CFDs are on 23/5 hours. For weekends, Pepperstone has US 500 and Nasdaq 100 perpetual CFDs, and IG offers weekend prices on Wall Street, Hong Kong HS50, Germany 40 and US Tech 100. Weekend prices are thinly traded and can jump on Monday's open.
What are the overnight financing costs on index CFDs?
At Pepperstone, a long index CFD pays the overnight reference rate plus 2.5% a year on its full value, divided by 360, every night it is held; a short receives the reference rate minus 2.5%. On a US$50,000 long US 500 position with a 4% reference rate, that is about US$9 a night. Weekend financing on indices is usually charged on Friday.
What are the trading hours for Asian index CFDs?
In Singapore time during the US summer, Pepperstone's Hong Kong 50 opens at about 9.15am with a lunch break from 12pm to 1pm and an evening session until 3am; the China A50 runs 9am to 4.30pm and 5pm to 4.45am. The Australia 200 opens at about 7.50am. Pepperstone's table is set in platform time, which moves by an hour when US clocks change, so recheck the hours in the platform each March and November.
Which broker is best for day trading indices?
For intraday index trading we prefer Pepperstone, since there is no commission and a day trade closed before 5am Singapore time pays no financing. cTrader and MT5 suit short-term index trading with one-click order entry. If guaranteed stops matter to you, IG offers them, at a premium, under its MAS licence.
What margin is required to trade index CFDs?
Under Pepperstone's Bahamas licence, major indices need 0.5% margin at maximum retail leverage of 1:200 and minor indices 1%. A US$20,000 position on the US 500 therefore needs about US$100 of margin. Using all of it is reckless; with that margin, a 0.5% fall in the index would use up the entire deposit for that trade.
Which brokers let you trade indices on MetaTrader?
Pepperstone and XS both offer index CFDs on MT4 and MT5, and CMC Markets Singapore offers them on MT4. At Pepperstone, some newer index CFDs, including HSTECH, US400 and TAIEX, are on MT5 and cTrader only. Phillip Nova's MT5 suite is the option for index trading on MetaTrader under a MAS licence.
Which platform is best for index trading?
For CFDs, TradingView for charting and MT5 or cTrader for execution cover most needs, and Pepperstone offers all three. For exchange-traded index futures such as SGX contracts, a futures platform like Phillip Nova's NOVA is the right tool. Choose the platform that shows you the session times and margin clearly before you place an order.
Which indices are most actively traded in the Asian session?
The indices whose home markets are open are naturally busiest in Asian hours: the Japan 225 from 8am Singapore time, the Australia 200 just before that, and the Hong Kong 50 and China A50 from 9am. The SCI25 follows Singapore's own trading day from 8.30am. US indices are quieter until Europe and then New York open.
What are the hidden costs when trading indices?
The spread is visible; the costs people miss are nightly financing, wider spreads outside the cash session, dividend adjustments debited on short positions and currency conversion if the index is priced in a currency other than your account. Gaps over a weekend can also skip past a stop-loss. Pepperstone does not offer guaranteed stops, so gap risk is yours.
Published 2026-10-21. Informational only, not investment advice. CFDs are leveraged products and most retail accounts lose money.
Our index pick
Index CFDs on MT5