Retail forex broker Markets.com, a unit of Playtech PLC (LON:PTEC), will be raising margin requirements from 5% to 10% for CFDs on certain US-traded stocks during the current Q4 earnings reporting season.
Shares of even very liquid, well-traded equities tend to be more volatile leading up to an earnings announcement – especially year-end results, when ‘surprise’ items such as writeoffs and changes in outlook tend to show up more often than in quarterly results announcements.
As with many other retail forex brokers offering CFDs on stocks, Markets.com typically allows popular shares to be traded with 20x leverage (i.e. 5% margin), although some brokers require 10% initial margin and 5% maintenance margin.
The shares affected are those of:
- Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
- Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
- Mastercard Inc (NYSE:MA)
- Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)
- Xerox Corp (NYSE:XRX)
- Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX)
The margin changes take affect from today (January 27) through to next Monday, February 1.