London CFD Brokers Fall on Tariff Shock; XTB Stands Firm

Volatility usually benefits brokers, as traders become more active in uncertain markets. However, publicly listed brokers also tend to suffer when markets fall. The shares of three London-listed contracts for differences (CFDs) brokers—IG Group (IGG), CMC Markets (CMCX), and Plus500 (PLUS)—have lost a significant portion of their value since US President Donald Trump announced tariffs last week.

Brokerage Stocks Dive, Except One

CMC Markets suffered the steepest losses among its two peers, with its shares dropping about 9 per cent in value since Friday. IG Group’s shares fell by around 8 per cent, while Plus500 saw a 7 per cent decline.

These brokers’ stocks continued to fall today (Monday). CMC once again led the losses, with its shares dropping over 5 per cent since the opening of the latest trading session. Although IG Group shares fell by more than 3.3 per cent, Plus500 limited its losses to around 2 per cent.

The movement of these three CFD stocks also reflected the broader FTSE 100 index, the leading benchmark of the UK stock market, which lost about 5 per cent of its value today (Monday) after a similar 5 per cent decline on Friday.

Swissquote, a Switzerland-listed platform that also offers CFDs, dropped by 5.5 per cent today and about 15 per cent over the past five trading sessions. However, Poland-listed XTB defied global market trends and gained over 4 per cent today, recovering the losses it sustained last week.

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The Sudden Shock of Tariffs

The heavy losses in global stock markets began after US President Trump imposed a 10 per cent baseline tariff on all US imports. Some Southeast Asian countries were among the hardest hit, with tariffs reaching as high as 49 per cent and 46 per cent on goods from Cambodia and Vietnam, respectively.

China is also facing a 34 per cent tariff, in addition to the 20 per cent already imposed earlier by President Trump. In response, China imposed a 34 per cent tariff on all US imports on Friday.

A good read on the topic: Trump’s Tariffs, Global Market Chaos: Is This the New Black Monday?

While the S&P 500 was trading at an all-time high last February, the index dropped nearly 10.5 per cent over the last two trading sessions, Thursday and Friday. The extreme market conditions even disrupted eToro’s public listing plans. The Israeli broker reportedly paused its initial public offering (IPO) roadshow, though sources say it has not changed its intention to go public in Q2 this year. Instead, the company will continue to monitor market conditions amid ongoing volatility.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR), another major brokerage firm with CFDs in its offering, has lost 20 per cent of its value since last Wednesday. In the ongoing pre-market session, IBKR stock dropped by another 7 per cent. Robinhood stock followed a similar path, falling by around 10 per cent since the tariff announcement and a further 8.1 per cent in pre-market trading.