Trading Platforms For Scalping UK – Platform Reviews

Scalp trading is a short-term trading strategy in which traders buy and sell assets with the aim of taking advantage of small price movements. By reducing the amount of time for which they are in any particulate trade, they reduce their risk and exposure to losses.

In this guide, we will help you find the scalping trading platforms UK traders are accepted at in 2023.  

Trading Platforms For Scalping UK List

Scalping is an extremely popular scalp trading strategy among short-term traders, and therefore, there are a lot of platforms that are suitable for this purpose. Here is a list of some of the most popular scalp trading platforms in the UK, below which we have reviewed some of the UK platforms in detail:

• AvaTrade
• eToro
• MT4 via Libertex
• XTB

Trading Platforms For Scalping UK Reviews 

A list of popular scalp trading platforms was provided above. Each of those brokerages and trading platforms is suitable for different types of traders. In order for you to be a successful scalp trader, it is important for you to be able to choose the right brokerage platform. This includes looking at the range of financial assets they let you trade, their fees, as well as how easy it is to withdraw and deposit money. Below, we have reviewed the UK scalp trading platforms in detail.

1. Avatrade

If you’re an experienced trader who is looking for advanced trading tools, high leverage trading, and access to a variety of financial assets, then Avatrade is the right choice for you. Not only does Avatrade support MT4 and MT5 trading platforms, but it is also among the main UK forex scalp trading brokers. It supports a variety of automated trading tools such as DupliTrade, AvaSocial, and ZuluTrade. 

However, perhaps the biggest USP of Avatrade is that it offers extremely high leverages for most trades. For example, on most currency pairs, it offers a leverage of 400x, making it extremely popular for experienced traders who are comfortable with the risk.

At the same time, Avatrade also has very tight spreads (0.9 pips for the EUR/USD pair and 1.6 pips for the GBP/USD pair) which are fixed throughout the day. It offers the opportunity to trade CFDs, thus allowing to trade on vanilla options with low fees on high leverage. 

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2. eToro

eToro is the largest and most popular social trading network in the world and allows you to trade over 2400 assets, which includes 45+ currency pairs, stocks, indices, 60+ cryptocurrencies, and commodities.

An additional advantage that eToro has is that it offers CFD trades, which means that you do not have to pay any fees at all. For scalp traders, who open and close positions very regularly, this no-fee trading option is one of the features that eToro offers. 

They also allow you to trade on leverage on a variety of assets. For example, they offer x30 leverage for most major currency pairs, x20 for minor currencies, and x15 for most major commodities.

While trading through eToro, you can use their web portal or download their mobile app, allowing you to monitor your trading positions on the move. Setting up an account on eToro, you not only get access to a social trading network with over 17 million members but also to the different CopyPortfolios. This will allow you to mirror the trades of more successful and experienced traders, including the most successful scalpers. 

eToro is regulated and insured by several agencies worldwide, making it trustworthy to trade financial assets. To get started, you need to set up an account and add a minimum deposit of $200, after which you can then begin trading right away. 

eToro fees:

3. Libertex

Libertex is among the oldest scalp trading platforms that supports a variety of asset classes including stocks, commodities, and currencies. It is known for being the main UK broker to trade with through the MT4 and MT5 platforms, therefore its forex trading is popular.

It allows you to trade over 51 currency pairs with leverage as high as 30x. It is the ideal scalp trading platform because it offers 0 spreads, which means you can buy and sell the asset instantly at the same price. On every trade you make, you only have to pay a commission of 0.006%, making it the ideal platform for scalp traders. 

If you are a professional trader and meet their requirements for being considered experienced, then Libertex will allow you to trade with leverages as high as 1000x on some currency pairs, the highest in the industry.

Libertex is compatible with MT4 and MT5, you can also use their own trading platform which has a wide range of tools including market sentiment analysis, a built-in news feed, and different customizable signals services. 

Libertex fees:

CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

4. XTB

In Europe, XTB Broker is a well-known trading site for stocks, currencies, and commodities that accepts a range of assets. The platform has more than 400,000 subscribers worldwide and has been available for more than 15 years.

In total, XTB offers more than 2100 trading instruments. For anyone looking to diversify their portfolio and broaden their market exposure, this makes it a tempting option. Furthermore, XTB guarantees affordable spreads and fees. The website does charge overnight fees to those who hold positions after the market shuts.

Members of XTB can access a range of educational tools if they are brand-new to trading. There are also numerous tutorials and a whole trading academy included. Additionally, Users have access to in-depth market analysis to help them make trading decisions on XTB.

Additionally, XTB provides a demo account, a terrific method to test out the platform without risking any money. XStation 5 and XStation Mobile are the two trading systems that XTB provides. The second choice is the best for mobile trading.

XTB is perfect for scalping because the platform offers fast execution speeds. You can start trading with as little as you like because XTB has no minimum deposit requirements.

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UK Trading Platform For Scalping Comparison

In order to be able to make the right choice, below you will find a tabular comparison of the different scalp trading brokerage platforms that you can use, alongside their spreads for major forex pairs. 

What Is Scalping

Put very simply, scalping trading is a strategy that specializes in proofing from short-term price movements in the prices of a security. This is done over short timeframes, relying on the number of trades rather than the quality. This means that, instead of making a few high-profit trades, the trader makes several low-profit trades, thus spreading out the risk and minimising the possibility of losses. 

This is done through the use of a methodical trading framework, where a trader pre-sets a collection of conditions and a universal set of securities that they are interested in trading. Whenever a security from the universal set satisfies their set of conditions, they open a trade and close it shortly thereafter. In such trading strategies, it does not matter if a few trades are closed on a loss, as long as the net figure is positive. 

Most scalp traders use differing timeframes depending on their preferences and their level of expertise. There have been a few questions raised and allegations made as to whether scalping is illegal, but as long as it is done within legal parameters, it is 100% within the confines of the law. While the usual time to hold a trade for beginners is between 1 and 15 minutes, experienced traders sometimes only hold positions for a matter of seconds. 

UK Scalping Strategies

While scalp trading itself is a strategy of trading that seeks to minimize risk by spreading it out among a variety of trades, there are several strategies within scalp trading that are employed to maximise the probability of profits. Some of the most popular scalp trading strategies that are employed by traders at all levels of expertise have been discussed below in detail. 

1 Minute Scalping Trading Strategy

This is one of the most popular and easy-to-implement strategies among scalp traders. As the name suggests, this strategy involves not holding positions for longer than a minute. This allows traders to open and close numerous positions within one trading day, maximizing profits. At the same time, it also reduces risk by reducing the timeframe in which the stock price can turn against you and result in a loss. 

While this is one reliable trading strategy, it is important for this to only be used with a signal or stock picking software, to ensure that you are making the right trades. Low risks do not help if you’re on the wrong side of a trade more often than you’re right, therefore it is important to choose your trades wisely. 

RSI Scalping Forex Trading Strategy

This strategy uses the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator. This is a technical indicator that helps traders in identifying when securities are overbought or oversold, indicating that there is a high probability of a trend reversal. An RSI of above 70 indicates that the security is overbought and that the price might start falling soon, and an RSI below 30 indicates oversold security that might start rallying upwards soon. 

There are several different scalp trading strategies that make use of the RSI. The simplest is to select a set of stocks, and trade whenever the RSI shows a number that’s below 30 or above 70. If the RSI is below 30, then you should buy or go long on the security, and vice versa if the RSI is above 70. 

Bid and Ask Market Making

This is a complicated scalping strategy that can be effective and have a higher profitability rate than the other two. In this strategy, the trader places a buy and sell order at the same time, trying to benefit from the difference in the spread. Generally, the bid and ask prices of a security are not the same, and this difference is called the spread. It is one of the ways in which brokerage firms make money. In the Bid and Ask Market Making strategy, the trader tries to buy and sell the security simultaneously, and pocket the difference in the prices. 

This strategy is not easy to apply, as there are several requirements for this. For starters, you need to use an ECN/STP broker as opposed to a market maker broker. At the same time, you also will need a broker that gives you access to the level 2 order book and offers zero spreads. High execution times are also absolutely crucial, as the entire strategy fails if your order does not go through in time. While there are several brokers that are suitable for implementing this strategy, VantageFX is the clear winner if you wish to trade FX pairs. 

How to Choose the Right Scalping Trading Platform in the UK For You

As mentioned earlier, your choice of the right scalp trading platform is very crucial, and will often make the difference in whether or not you’re profitable. For example, even if you’re making the right trades and netting a profit, choosing a broker that either has very high spreads or very high commissions will mean that you eventually make a loss anyway. There are 4 main things that you should keep in mind while choosing a broker for scalping, and these have been discussed below. 

Type of Broker

One of the most important factors for you to consider is the type of broker it is – whether it is a market maker or an ECN/STP broker. Certain scalping strategies only work with either market makers or ECN/STP brokers. Market makers usually do not charge fixed fees and ensure an execution regardless of trading conditions. On the other hand, ECN/STP brokers provide access to the level 2 order book and create a much more transparent trading environment. 

Execution Speed

Another crucial factor to consider while choosing a broker is the execution speed. As a scalper, you will often be opening and closing positions rapidly in that every second matters, therefore it is extremely important that your broker provides the necessary execution speeds to avoid slippages and delays. 

Leverage Ratio

Since scalping relies on making profits from very small movements in financial assets, leverage is a key feature of scalp trading platforms. It is important that you choose a platform that provides an adequate level of leverage. The leverage should be compatible with your risk profile, since higher leverage also means higher risk, and should also enable you to maximise your profits.  

Trading Tools and Features

The last factor that you need to consider is the trading tools that the platform provides. As a scalp trader, you will often not be analysing securities very deeply, and will instead choose to rely on signals and pickers to present you with trading opportunities. Therefore, it is important for you to choose a broker that allows you to do so. UK scalping brokers will allow you to use different charting methods and technical indicators. 

Trading Platform For Scalping UK  – Conclusion

Scalping is a very short-term trading strategy that takes advantage of short-term price movements. It is technical with a learning curve, but can be profitable if the right broker is used. While different trading requirements necessitate the use of different brokers, in general, go for an FCA regulated scalping broker.

FAQ

How Do You Scalp Trade The Forex Market?

In order to scalp trade, the first thing that you need to do is find a reliable broker that meets all your requirements. Then you need to decide on a universal set of securities you will be trading and set a set of conditions that the trade has to satisfy.

Is Scalping A Risky Day Trading Strategy?

Like with any other trading strategy, there is a certain degree of risk involved with scalp trading. However, if your plan is solid and you manage your risk effectively, the probability of you being profitable is quite high.

How Much Money Do You Need To Start Scalping?

Depending on the broker you use, you will have to deposit a different amount of money to start trading. While some brokers have minimum requirements as low as GBP 10, eToro and other regulated brokers usually have higher requirements like GBP 150.

What Is The Right Time To Scalp Trade The Forex Market?

The times of highest volatility are usually the most popular times to scalp trade. Therefore, if you are trading major currency pairs, then go for when both the US and UK markets are open because traders in these countries are the cause of a lot of trading volume.

Which Is The Most Popular Forex Broker For Scalping?

This depends entirely on your requirements, level of experience, and the instruments you are looking to trade. Check our reviews above.