IG has made it even easier for clients to access the markets by becoming the only UK spread-betting provider to offer extended hours trading on a wide range of US stocks. The big players in the US banking and technology sectors are announcing results over the coming weeks and high levels of interest amongst traders are expected.

Brenda Kelly, Chief Market Strategist, IG said “With the US banking and technology sector reporting season upon us this is a busy time for traders.

“Confidence in US banking stocks has been rising steadily as share prices have broken above nine-month ranges over the past few trading sessions. Developments in the Basel requirements over the weekend also look set to give equities in that sector an extra boost and we expect to see increased upside in stock prices.

“By offering out of hours trading, IG customers have more opportunities to trade these stocks and are able to react more quickly to market developments.

“We have already seen plenty of interest in this offering, with customers trading JP Morgan stocks out of hours ahead of today’s results, and we’re delighted to be the only provider able offer extended hours trading on such a wide range of key US stocks.  This new service is all part of our ongoing drive to make more markets more accessible.”

The following stocks are available for out of hours trading on IG from 9am to 1am Monday to Thursday and 9am to 10pm on Fridays (UK time):

Amazon.com Inc, expected 29 January 2014

Apple, 27 January 2014

Bank of America, 15 January 2014

Cisco Systems Inc, expected 13 February 2014

Citigroup Inc, 16 January 2014

eBayInc, 22 January 2014

Facebook, 29 January 2014

Goldman Sachs Group Inc, 16 January 2014

Google, 30 January 2014

Hewlett-Packard Co, expected 21 February 2014

IBM Corp, 21 January 2014

Intel Corp, 16 January 2014

JPMorgan Chase & Co, 14 January 2014

Microsoft Corp, 23 January 2014

Twitter Inc, expected 30 January 2014

Yahoo! Inc, expected 28 January 2014

Normal margin requirements apply during the extended hours. Clients are required to show they have sufficient funds in their account to cover any open positions on these markets, as stops, limits and orders to open can be triggered during these times.