IG Index Cuts Spreads on Treasury Products

LONDON, October 17, 2011 -

Dominance of Macroeconomic News Spurs Interest in Asset Class

IG Index, the UK’s leading financial spread betting firm, has announced a series of spread cuts on several of its interest rate products. These products can be used to take a view on where a country’s interest rate is headed next, or to measure the market’s confidence in a government’s ability to service its own debts. As a result, Treasuries are now attracting unprecedented levels of interest from retail clients, as the global economic crisis rolls on.

Tim Hughes, Managing Director of IG Index, commented:

“With macroeconomic news now making the headlines on a daily basis, a number of our clients are seeing Treasuries as an increasingly useful way of getting exposure to markets that historically may not have seen the same degree of volatility as currencies or indices. Significant themes like the future of the euro and managing the US deficit are going to linger for some time yet, so we see these spread cuts as a way to introduce even more clients to this important asset class.”

Financial spread betting offers clients a number of benefits when trading Treasuries, including a transparent pricing structure and the ability to make profits free of tax. Also, because spread betting is a margin-traded product, only a percentage of the total exposure is required initially as a deposit.

Spreads on the 2-year and 5-year Treasury Notes, as issued by the United States, have been cut from four points to two points. The UK Short-term Gilt has been given a similar cut, while Euribor, Euroswiss, Sterling Deposit and the German Schatz have all seen their spreads cut from two points down to one. Other interest rate products are also available from IG Index, including Canadian, Japanese and Italian government bonds.

Further details on interest rate bets from IG Index can be found here: www.igindex.co.uk/spread-betting/interest-rates-bet-details.html

About IG Index

IG Index is the world’s leading financial spread betting provider, offering clients the ability to spread bet on over 7000 shares listed on markets worldwide, as well as stock indices, forex, commodities and treasuries. Established in 1974, IG Index is part of IG Group (IGG.L), which employs in excess of 900 people and has offices in 14 countries worldwide. For further information please visit www.igindex.co.uk, or call +44(0)20-7896-0011.

Media Contact: Tony Cross, IG Group: +44(0)207-573-0245

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