What Can Traders Expect During 2024’s Year of Elections?

• 2024’s ‘year of elections’, with half of the world’s population going to the polls, expected to create opportunities for traders
• Analysis of Plus500 OTC data from previous elections shows that indices and forex pairs are likely to be in focus

London, February 15, 2024 – With 2024 being described as ‘the year of elections’ as half of the world’s voters go to the polls, experts from the global multi-asset fintech group Plus500 have pored through trading data from recent elections to understand how traders might behave around this year’s high stakes political elections.

With a presence across more than 60 countries and over 25 million customers registered on the Group’s platforms, Plus500 can analyse the historic trading patterns of its customers and its analysis has found that trading volumes pick up materially on the day of and immediately after major elections.

The data shows that:

• In 2016, the day with the highest trading volumes across Plus500’s global customer base was 9^th November, when it was confirmed that Donald Trump had emerged victorious as president of the USA. Plus500 saw an increase of 330% in trading levels from the previous day, with the Germany Dax 40 index, and Gold being the most traded instruments.
• Also in 2016, on 24^th June, after the UK’s referendum to leave the EU, the Germany Dax 40 index was also the most traded instrument. The EUR/USD pair was the second most in demand instrument.
• In 2019, 12^th December, the day Boris Johnson was elected as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, saw the highest trading volume on GBP/USD among Plus500’s UK clients across the whole year.
• In 2020, 4th November, the day after Joe Biden was elected as president of the USA, the most traded instrument was the Nasdaq 100.*

*Above data based on Plus500 OTC trading platform.

David Zruia, Chief Executive Officer of Plus500, commented: “In 2024, voters will head to the polls across at least 64 countries. As we have seen in previous years, when high stakes set piece political events take place, trading activity picks up materially and we see big spikes across the markets.

Our team investigated the data from previous elections to understand the behaviour of our customers around these highly anticipated events in the political calendar, as part of our ongoing commitment to develop a deeper understanding of our customers, to be able to provide them with access to the best platform and products, and it was interesting to note how traders tend to flock to commodities, indices and FX during these election periods.

As we go into the upcoming series of elections globally, we are confident that we have the right tech enabled platform and a diverse enough range of products to provide our customers with the best trading experience, as they look to take advantage of opportunities that may arise especially where unexpected results emerge.”

About Plus500

Plus500 is a global multi-asset fintech group operating proprietary technology-based trading platforms. Plus500 offers customers a range of trading products, including OTC (“Over-the-Counter” products, namely Contracts for Difference (CFDs)), share dealing, as well as futures and options on futures.

The Group retains operating licences and is regulated in the United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, the Seychelles, the United States, Estonia, Japan, the UAE and the Bahamas and through its OTC product portfolio, offers more than 2,500 different underlying global financial instruments, comprising equities, indices, commodities, options, ETFs, foreign exchange and cryptocurrencies. Customers of the Group can trade its OTC products in more than 60 countries and in 30 languages.

Plus500’s trading platforms are accessible from multiple operating systems (iOS, Android and Windows) and web browsers. Customer care is, and has always been, integral to Plus500. As such, OTC customers cannot be subject to negative balances. A free demo account is available on an unlimited basis for OTC trading platform users and sophisticated risk management tools are provided free of charge to manage leveraged exposure, and stop losses to help customers protect profits, while limiting capital losses.

Plus500 shares have a premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (symbol: PLUS) and are a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. www.plus500.com.