CAC 40 (France 40) Trading Platforms

Trading the CAC 40 Index is speculating on the main benchmark index of the French stock market. It derived its name from Cotation Assistée en Continu electronic system in the eighties.

Like the Dax index, the index was born in the eighties on December 1987 with a base value of 1,000. The index is now maintained by Euronext Paris.

The index is capitalisation weighted, with the largest forty companies being included in the index. As of 2019, the biggest three stocks in the index is Total, LVMH, and Sanofi (see below). Many of these firms are household names, such as LVMH, L’Oreal and Danone.

How do you trade the CAC?

There are multiple financial products derived from the underlying CAC Index that you can trade with, including:

• Index Futures (Euronext) – Compare index broker comparison
• Index Options (Euronext) – Compare options trading platforms
• Exchange-Traded Funds – Compare ETF investment platforms
• Spread trading and CFDs – Compare CFD trading platforms or spread betting brokers

One of the biggest ETFs based on the CAC 40 Index is the Lyxor CAC 40 ETF traded in the LSE (ticker: CACX). This ETF is gaining popularity because of the ease of trading, unlike futures or options where there are rollover costs and expiry dates.

On index futures, they usually expire on March, June, September, and December. The nearest futures are usually the most liquid.

However, bear in mind that the CAC Index is Euro-denomiated. If you are trading in the UK with, say, spread trading, you may be using sterling depending on the platform.

• Related guides – learn more about trading indices or investing in ETFs

Best CAC trading platforms

Below is a selection of what we think are the best trading platforms for trading the CAC.

City Index 

Types of CAC trading: CFDs, spread betting

City Index Review

Name: City Index

Description: City Index is one of the oldest spread betting and CFD brokers based in the UK. They were founded in 1983 and offer trading in over 13,500 financial markets, to around 126,000 active clients. City Index is currently owned by StoneX, a US brokerage listed on the NASDAQ valued at $1.75bn.
70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.

• Visit City Index

Why we like them:

City Index offers some of the best trading tools and analysis to help traders perform better. Their unique post-trade analytics and voice brokerage service make it an excellent choice for large and frequent traders.

Pros

• Excellent trading tools
• Post-trade analytics
• Publically listed (part of StoneX)

Cons

• Trading only, no investment account
• Limited options markets
• No direct market access

• Pricing
  (4)
• Market Access
  (4.5)
• Online Platform
  (4)
• Customer Service
  (4.5)
• Research & Analysis
  (4.5)

Overall

4.3

Capital.com

Types of CAC trading: CFDs, spread betting

Capital.com Review

Name: Capital.com

Description: Capital.com was founded in 2016 and is a CFD trading platform and spread betting broker with offices in the UK and around the world. Since then, they have grown to offer over 3,700 tradable assets to 300,000 active monthly traders. Capital.com won “Best Trading App” in our 2023 Awards.

Why we like them:

Capital.com has an easy-to-use and intuitive trading platform and app, that gives access to the most popular financial markets with competitive spreads with the ability to reduce risk by decreasing your leverage.

Pros

• Innovative and intuitive app
• Set your own leverage
• Proprietary technology

Cons

• Trading only, no ISA or SIPP
• No options markets

• Pricing & Spreads
  (4)
• Market Access
  (3.5)
• Apps & Trading Platform
  (4.5)
• Customer Service
  (4.5)
• Research & Analysis
  (3.5)

Overall

4

• Visit Capital.com

CMC Markets 

Types of CAC trading: CFDs, spread betting

CMC Markets Review

Name: CMC Markets

Description: CMC Markets is one of the original spread betting and CFD brokers based in the UK. They have been providing forex trading services since 1989 and are now listed on the London Stock Exchange. The broker has over 300,000 active clients trading online and is operated from 13 global offices, with headquarters in The City of London.
67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider

• Visit CMC Markets

Is CMC Markets legit?

Yes, CMC Markets has always offered, and still does one of the best trading platforms for high-frequency and active traders. It’s a good choice for those who want to trade on tight spreads, with a platform built on exceptional tech.

Pros

• Excellent trading platform
• Good liquidity
• Unique sentiment tools

Cons

• Trading only, no investing account
• Limited smaller cap stocks

• Pricing
  (5)
• Market Access
  (4)
• Online Platform
  (5)
• Customer Service
  (4)
• Research & Analysis
  (5)

Overall

4.6

Pepperstone 

Types of CAC trading: CFDs, spread betting

Pepperstone Review

Name: Pepperstone

Description: Pepperstone were founded in 2010 in Australia and have since then grown to be a global brokerage with international offices and around 400,000 active clients. They offer spread betting and CFDs on 1,200 major market instruments, which means they focus on the most heavily traded assets, mainly forex and indices trading. Of those 900 are shares on the major stocks on international exchanges.
75.6% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

• Visit Pepperstone

Why we like them

Pepperstone is a good choice for traders that want to automate their trading strategies through MT4. As far as MT4 brokers they are one of the biggest and best and offers so good EA packages.

Pros

• Tight pricing
• Wide range of MT4 markets
• Pre-built MT4 indicator packages

Cons

• Limited market access
• Only third-party platforms

• Pricing
  (5)
• Market Access
  (3.5)
• Online Platform
  (4)
• Customer Service
  (4)
• Research & Analysis
  (4)

Overall

4.1

Saxo Markets 

Types of CAC trading: Futures, options, CFDs, spread betting

Saxo Markets Review

Name: Saxo Markets

Description: Saxo Markets is one of the largest CFD brokers worldwide and provides direct market access to equities, bonds, forex, futures and options as well as being a major liquidity and infrastructure provider to wealth managers, banks and smaller brokers.
64% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider

• Visit Saxo

Is Saxo Markets a good broker?

Yes, Saxo Markets is a good choice for more sophisticated traders. The platform, analysis, and direct market access may be too complicated for beginners. But, for experienced traders its coverage, commissions and research are unrivalled.

Pros

• Direct market access
• Low commissions
• Robust trading platform

Cons

• Seen as a trading platform for professionals

• Pricing
  (4.5)
• Market Access
  (4.5)
• Online Platform
  (5)
• Customer Service
  (4.5)
• Research & Analysis
  (4.5)

Overall

4.6

IG 

Types of CAC trading: CFDs, spread betting

IG Review

Name: IG

Description: Founded in 1974 as Investors Gold Index, then IG Index, now just “IG” is one of the world’s largest margin trading brokers. IG offer CFDs, FX and Spread Betting (in the UK) alongside share trading and prime brokerage to over 313,000 active clients and offers 17,000 tradable markets. IG also recently introduced physical share dealing and smart portfolios for longer-term investors.
69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and spread bets with this provider.

• Visit IG

Is IG a good trading platform?

Yes, IG provides an excellent all-round trading and investing brokerage service. IG pioneered online trading and financial spread betting for private clients and remains not only one of the largest online trading platforms, but also one of the best. IG stands out through deep liquidity, high market range and excellent added value such as trading tools and analysis.

Pros

• Vast range of markets
• Excellent liquidity & DMA equities
• Listed on the London Stock Exchange

Cons

• Customer service can be slow
• No DMA futures trading
• Still charges inactivity fee

• Pricing
  (4.5)
• Market Access
  (5)
• Online Platform
  (5)
• Customer Service
  (4)
• Research & Analysis
  (5)

Overall

4.7

What makes the French CAC Index good for trading?

The French CAC 40 Index is attractive to investors and traders alike because:

• Many CAC stocks are highly international and these companies derived their earnings globally
• CAC 40 offers good liquidity – as some of these stocks are huge (e.g. Total, Sanofi and Airbus) This means tighter spreads.
• CAC 40 offers a good exposure of leading consumer companies such as LVMH, Kering, and Danone.

French firms have benefitted from good economic growth and are expanding rapidly, like LVMH’s takeover of Tiffany. As you can see from CAC 40’s chart below, prices are marching upwards.

What moves the CAC 40 Index price?

Stock markets are often driven by a wide variety of factors. For the French stock market, consumer growth is increasing important because of its exposure to the world consumption trends. Other important factors include:

• Trade factors (e.g., Tariff wars, exchange rate)
• Monetary factors (e.g., Quantitative Easing, rates movements, yield curve etc)
• Technical factors (e.g., new highs or lows)
• Earning factors (e.g., profitability and earnings momentum)

The CAC Index has a large financial component (AXA, BNP, SocGen), so ECB’s QE may play an important role too.

Watch the Euro exchange rate as this may impact french exports/imports prices.

7 tips for trading the CAC 40

To trade the CAC 40 profitably requires a good trading strategy. The following tips may help you to maximise your chances of trading the CAC 40 successfully over the long term.

1. Understand your requirements for trading the CAC 40. Are you an intra-day or positional trader? Do you invest for the long term? Are dividends important?
2. Research various technical (or fundamental) indicators to support the trading objective. There are many technical indicators that you can use, including
   • Trend indicators like moving average
   • Oscillators
   • Support & resistance levels (see GMG Guide on Support/Resistance)
   • Patterns like breakout and reversals
3. Backtest these indicators if they are profitable over time. Select a few that you can understand. Check their pitfalls and signal variations over time. Put these indicators into a trading software and backtest. Is it profitable? Can you withstand the drawdown?
4. Select the indicators that best suit the objectives. Once the initial backtest research is completed, setup a mock testing period of, say, six weeks. Assess the results. Are they good? Which type of indicators works better?
5. Include risk management factors in your assessment. Important factors like position sizing, leverage levels, stop loss levels and risk-reward ratios must be specified. Trading without risk management is like driving without brakes and safety belts.
6. Select trading platforms that support your operations. Capital requirements, platform fees, and trading capability are all important factors to look for. See the comparison table above.
7. Commit capital and go live. Make sure that you drip feed capital into new strategies because there may be many things to iron out before you’re comfortable with it. Stay discipline with your trading plan.

Alternative Indices For CAC 40 (France 40) Index Trading

You can read about the major indices in our guide to the best indices for index trading.

• Dow Jones Industrials Average (US 30)
• Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500)
• Nasdaq (Composite and Nasdaq 100)
• Dow Jones Industrials (DJIA)
• UK FTSE 100 (FTSE 100)
• DAX (Germany 30)
• European Stocks to Buy Now
• Japan 225 (Nikkei 225)
• Hong Kong (Hang Seng Index)

What is the live CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) price?

The current CAC 40 (INDEXEURO:PX1) price is 7,932.61 which is a change of -112.5 or -1.4% from the last closing price of 7,932.61 with n/a shares traded giving CAC 40 a market capitalisation of £n/a. The most recent daily high has been 7,975.96 and daily low 7,899.36. The CAC 40 share price 52 week high has been 8,253.59 and the 52 week low 6,773.82.

Pricing data automatically updates every 15 minutes