Saxo Bank Allows Japanese Traders to Trade Fractional Index CFDs

Saxo Bank's Japanese operation has introduced fractional stock index contracts for differences (CFDs), thereby decreasing the trading barrier for retail investors.

The broker cut the minimum trading unit for stock index CFDs from 1 to 0.1 or 0.01, depending on the trading instrument, as announced earlier this week. The site gives traders more than 20 CFDs on stock indexes.

"Until now, the minimum trading unit for the US N100 stock index was 1, requiring a transaction minimum of 176,951 yen. Since the minimum trading unit has been reduced to 0.01, it is now possible to trade with as little as 1,770 yen," the broker said.

CFDs are sophisticated derivatives, yet traders can take bullish and bearish bets. As opposed to long-term investors, short-term traders choose these instruments.

Saxo Bank is a Danish bank that provides online trading services. Its services are accessible throughout Europe and several Asia-Pacific nations.

The broker offered fractional trading using stock index CFDs on the Japanese market some months after doing so on other markets.

"Since the quantity of trading units has fallen all at once, trading has become easier," Koji Yamanaka, the chief executive officer of Ascendant, stated.

Japan is a significant market for retail trading. However, the market is dominated by local brokerages, with only a handful of multinational companies present. In the meantime, the Japanese branch of Saxo Bank will terminate support for MetaTrader 4, a popular trading platform for trading FX and CFDs, in the next month.

In addition, Saxo Bank has recruited a number of senior executives in recent months to bolster its operations. Mette Skou is the new global head of business partnership, and Ronni Bollerup Butler is the new head of electronic trading.