O que é CFD Trading e Como se Tornar um CFD Trader em 2025

There are several advantages to CFD trading in Portugal compared to buying shares directly. In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about online CFD trading in Portugal and reveal the best CFD trading platform in 2025.

CFD Trading Portugal Tutorial – Step by Step Guide

Do you want to trade CFDs on the financial markets? Let us explain how to start your journey on Libertex :

1. Open a CFD Trading Account in Portugal (we recommend Libertex )
2. Fund Your Account
3. Open a CFD trade
   

85% das contas de investidores de varejo perdem dinheiro ao negociar CFDs com este provedor.

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What is CFD Trading and what are CFDs in practice?

CFD trading is a form of trading derivative instruments (CFDs).

This means that instead of investing directly in a financial asset, trading is carried out through a contract based on the value of the respective asset.

For example, instead of buying or selling shares directly, you buy and sell a contract, the value of which depends on the underlying price of the shares.

CFD trading may seem complicated to beginners, but it’s actually quite simple. In most cases, CFD trading works exactly like buying shares directly. If the value of the shares goes up by 5%, the value of your CFD contract also goes up by 5%.

However, there are some specific advantages to trading CFDs online. We will look at these advantages throughout this article, but one of the most important aspects is the ability to trade almost all financial instruments available with CFDs.

You can trade stocks, for example, as well as Forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds, and more.

CFD Trading Example – CFD Simulation

Let’s look at an example to see how CFD trading works in Portugal. Let’s say you want to buy Royal Mail shares, which are trading at 181p per share. You can visit your CFD broker and purchase CFDs for Royal Mail shares at 181p per contract.

If the Royal Mail share price rises to 190p, the value of your CFD contracts will also rise to 190p. If you chose to sell your contracts at this price, you would receive a profit of 9.5% – exactly the same as the profit you would make if you had bought the Royal Mail shares directly.

What a CFD Trader Can Trade with CFDs

As already mentioned, it is possible to trade various financial instruments in CFDs, in addition to shares.

CFDs are extremely flexible, so they can be used to trade any type of financial instrument. Some popular types of CFDs in Portugal include:

• CFDs on shares
• CFDs on Forex
• CFDs on commodities (e.g. gold, silver and oil)
• CFDs on cryptocurrencies
• CFDs on ETFs
• CFDs on bonds

While these are the most common types of CFDs offered by leading brokers in Portugal , it would be possible to trade CFDs on less common types of financial assets.

For example, CFDs that track the value of real estate or even pieces of art.

In any of these assets, the value of the CFD directly follows the price of the underlying asset. For example, imagine that you start trading your CFD on Bitcoin. If the value of Bitcoin goes up by 2%, the value of your Bitcoin CFD also goes up by 2%.

The same applies to Forex, commodities, indices and any other asset you trade in CFDs.

Reasons to be a CFD Trader

Since it is possible to buy shares and other assets directly, what are the reasons for using CFDs? There are several particular advantages that make CFD trading so popular.

Indirect Ownership

The main benefit of CFDs is that you don’t have to take ownership of the underlying asset. This may not seem like a big deal if you only trade shares – in most cases, share certificates are stored digitally in a share trading account, requiring no effort on your part to buy or sell.

But what if you want to trade currency pairs or commodities like oil? To buy oil directly, you need to find transportation for the physical barrels of crude, and storage facilities.

Forex trading requires converting one currency to another, which often involves navigating complex legality and taxation regulations associated with foreign currencies.

When trading CFDs, you don’t have to worry about any of these issues.

You are buying just one contract, not a barrel of oil or foreign currency – the potential to profit from fluctuations in the price of the respective asset is the same.

Leverage in CFDs

Perhaps the main reason why CFDs are so popular among equity traders is the ability to trade with leverage. With leverage, a trader essentially uses money borrowed from their broker to increase the size of their position.

Let’s say you want to buy AstraZeneca shares, currently trading at €8.60. If you have €100 in your trading account, you would only be able to buy 11 CFD contracts.

However, with leverage, it is possible to invest more money than you have available in your CFD trading account.

For example, if you use leverage of 1:10 in your trade, you can buy 110 contracts for AstraZeneca shares (a total cost of €946) with just €100 in your account.

The benefit of using leverage is the potential multiplication of your profits if the value of Astra Zeneca shares increases.

For every 1% increase in the price of the underlying asset, the price of your CFD position – with leverage of 1:10 – increases by 10%. Therefore, with leverage, you can multiply your returns on successful trades.

Additionally, since you need less money to invest in each position, you can diversify your trades without adding more money to your account.

Making Money with CFD Trading in Both Directions

Another major advantage of CFD trading in Portugal is the ability to profit even when asset prices fall. You can open a short sell order for your CFD contracts instead of buying them.

If the price of Facebook shares, for example, drops by 5%, the value of your CFD position increases by 5%.

Fractional Investment

Another benefit of trading shares through CFDs, especially if you’re investing in expensive stocks like Amazon, is that with share CFDs, you can invest as much or as little as you want – you’re not forced to buy entire shares.

So, although the value of each Amazon share is over $3,400, most CFD brokers allow you to invest any amount, such as as little as £50 in each investment.

CFD Trading Fees in Portugal

While commissions are common practice among stock brokers, most of the best CFD brokers in Portugal are completely commission-free.

This means that when trading CFDs in Portugal, you do not need to pay a fixed fee of several euros for each trade you open.

However, trading CFDs is not completely free. CFD trading platforms typically charge a spread that can range from less than 0.1% to more than 0.5%.

The spread is the difference between the buy and sell price of each contract for difference (CFD), so it is factored into your trades. The good news is that for most traders, spreads of around 0.1% per share in CFD trading are still much cheaper than commissions.

Risks of CFD Trading Online

Online CFD trading carries many of the same risks associated with other types of trading. There is always the possibility that the underlying asset being traded may fall in value, which would result in the value of your invested CFD contracts falling as well.

In this situation, you can choose to sell your contracts and accept the loss, or keep your position open in the hope that the value will rise again.

If you trade with leverage, CFD trading is no riskier than trading assets directly. However, when trading with leverage in CFD trading in Portugal, the risks increase substantially.

It should be noted that leverage also multiplies your losses. If you trade CFDs with a leverage of 1:10, and the value of the underlying asset drops by 1%, the value of your CFD position drops by 10%.

Most brokers require a minimum account balance equal to the value of your positions, so you may be required to add money to your CFD trading account to keep your leveraged position open.

Alternatively, other brokers automatically sell any position at a loss.

Another thing to keep in mind is that since leverage requires borrowing money from the broker, it comes with interest rates. You will have to pay the broker for each day that your leveraged CFD position remains open – swap fees.

If the price rise does not occur as quickly as expected, interest rates may end up being higher than your profit.

Best CFD Trading Strategies for 2025

There are several different approaches you can take to CFD trading. But regardless of your goals or trading style, it’s important to approach each trade with a clear plan.

To help you get started, let’s explore some of the most popular strategies for day trading CFDs:

Momentum Trading​

Momentum trading is one of the simplest CFD trading strategies for beginners. Simply identify a stock or other asset that is rapidly rising in value with high volume. As more traders come in to trade the asset, its price will continue to rise for some time.

Once the momentum starts to dissipate, sell your position and take your profits. Remember, it is better to sell too early and make a profit than to sell too late and end up losing what you could have gained.

Momentum in value is often triggered by news and company announcements, so it is possible to identify potential opportunities by following market news.

Breakout Trading​

Breakouts are another popular target for traders. To find these breakout points, you first need to identify resistance areas that the stock’s value has not yet managed to break through .

Once the stock price finally breaks through this resistance level, it is likely to continue to rise.

The key to this type of strategy is to avoid being fooled by false breakouts. A true breakout should break above the resistance level with strong trading volume.

It is also possible to use technical analysis tools to identify other factors, such as momentum (trend), that indicate continued growth in the asset’s value.

Scalping

Scalping is a CFD trading strategy that involves immense focus and patience. With scalping, the goal is to profit from small, brief movements in the asset’s price that occur routinely throughout the day.

You can look for small bursts of momentum or increases in trading volume. Typically, scalping trades are opened and closed within just a few minutes.

Scalping is particularly suitable for CFD traders because it is possible to apply leverage to trades. The price movements involved in this strategy are typically just a fraction of a percentage point.

However, with leverage of 1:10, this same price swing represents profits equivalent to several percentage points.

Tips for Being a Successful CFD Trader

CFD trading can be quite profitable, but it is important not to forget the risks involved in this type of trading.

Let’s explore five CFD trading tips you can use to reduce your risk exposure and increase your profits.

Start with a CFD Trading Demo Account

One of the best things you can do when starting your journey into the world of CFD trading is to open a free demo account.

Most brokers in Portugal offer this type of CFD trading platform, which allows you to buy and sell CFDs, just as you would in any real CFD trading account – but without committing your real money to your trades.

A demo account is a fantastic tool to familiarize yourself with CFD trading and learn how to develop a strategy for your future live CFD trading account.

It is important to view a demo account as if it were a real trading account, with real money, in order to effectively practice good risk management practices.

Multiple Positions

Since most CFD brokers do not charge commissions on their trades, there is no downside to placing multiple buy and sell orders.

Instead of executing your trade with one bulky order, you can mitigate risk by buying and selling across multiple orders.

The advantage of cautiously entering multiple positions is that if the price of the asset drops after your first purchase, you can buy more at a lower price.

By selling you can collect some profits while keeping your position open on some CFD contracts to earn a higher yield if the price continues to rise.

Use Stop Loss Orders

A stop loss is a limit order. It is a price lower than the current market price of your CFD contract, at which the broker must sell your position. Stop loss orders are essential for sound risk management. When you set a stop loss , nothing happens immediately.

If the value of your position decreases significantly, your broker will automatically sell your position to limit your loss.

On the other hand, you can also use stop loss orders to lock in some profit. Simply set your stop loss at a value above the purchase price of your CFD. This limit will be called take profit.

Use CFD Technical Analysis Tools

Technical analysis is an essential toolkit for analyzing the value of stocks, Forex currency pairs, and other assets. This type of analysis considers the asset’s past price history to predict its future movement.

While you shouldn’t rely solely on a single technical indicator, using multiple indicators and price charts together can help you develop trading strategies and identify potentially profitable CFD trades.

Diversify your CFD Portfolio

One of the main benefits of CFD trading is the ability to open more positions without adding more money to your account.

Regardless of whether you trade fractional shares or use leverage, trading CFDs is not too expensive.

You can use this feature to your advantage by diversifying your portfolio. You can invest in CFDs on shares of companies in different market sectors – for example, buying oil stocks, blue chip stocks, and pharmaceutical stocks.

Or trade CFDs on stocks and Forex CFDs to diversify your portfolio across multiple classes of financial instruments. The more diversified your portfolio is, the more protected you are if the value of a particular company or market sector drops substantially.

Best CFD Trading Platforms Portugal

To start your journey into the world of CFD trading in Portugal, you need to open an account with a CFD trading platform.

There are a huge number of brokers to choose from and they vary widely in terms of cost, amount of CFDs available and number of trading tools included.

Therefore, to make your choice easier, we will highlight four of our favorite brokers operating in Portugal.

1. Libertex – CFD Broker with Zero Spreads

Libertex is a CFD broker with a unique offering – they don’t charge spreads! The spread is the difference between the buy and sell price and is often set by the broker.

However, with Libertex, traders only pay a small commission for buying and selling, and overnight position fees.

This means you can trade with zero spreads on over 213 financial instruments with CFDs, from cryptocurrencies, stocks, currencies, indices, commodities and more! You can also use the MetaTrader 4 trading platform which allows for automated trading.

Operating your account with Libertex is extremely simple. The broker is also regulated by CySEC, providing security and peace of mind to its traders.

85% das contas de investidores de varejo perdem dinheiro ao negociar CFDs com este provedor.

2. Crypto.com: 0% Commission Broker for CFDs 

Crypto.com, a broker launched in 2016 - before the huge bull runs - is a highly reputable Bitcoin CFD trading and investment solution and also a solution for other cryptocurrency CFDs. Allowing not only leverage, but also staking and mining, this advanced broker provides all the resources you need to invest in cryptocurrencies and their CFDs, creating a portfolio for each one.

Unlike most of its competitors, at Crypto.com you will have the advantage of actually owning cryptocurrencies, in addition to CFDs. In other words, you can, whenever you want, using your Bitcoin wallet or others, make the transactions you want, since you will have your own chance. Another advantage is that here you will have detailed support, helping you at every stage of the process, even for beginner investors. Bitcoin has never been such an accessible investment, as with this licensed broker!

71% of retail investors lose money when trading CFDs on this website.

CFD Trading Tutorial in Portugal - Step by Step Guide

Want to trade CFDs online? Let us explain how to start your journey with Libertex.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions