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Trading basics
API order types
API order types
Client libs and Sample apps There are two types of order available on our API:
REST trading API Immediate orders
Guide Resting orders
Reference
API companion
Immediate order types
Streaming API
Guide There are two kinds of immediate order:

Reference Market order

Streaming companion Limit fill or kill order
Support
Note there is an additional order type "QUOTE" representing "IG-quoted" orders which is currently not supported.
FAQ
Market order
Community
A market order is an instruction to buy or sell at the best available price for the size of your order. When using this type of order you choose the size and
Glossary
direction of your order, but not the price.
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You do not have any control over what price your order will be filled at; it will be filled at the then market price which may be worse than the indicative
Blogs
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments
prices andplacing
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with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading
order.
spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of
This is because the losing
full sizeyour
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order you request may clients
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the time youthey
than place your market order, and the price may change significantly
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between that time and when your order size becomes available. This is particularly true for markets that are not traded in high volumes, as well as orders
submitted during fast-moving markets or outside the open hours of the underlying market.

Limit fill or kill

A limit fill or kill order is an instruction to buy or sell in a specified size within a specified price limit, which is either filled completely or rejected. Provided the
market price is within the specified limit and there is sufficient volume available, the order will be filled at the prevailing market price.

The entire order will be rejected if:

The market price is outside your specified limit (higher for buy orders, lower for sell orders)
There is insufficient volume available to satisfy the full order size

Examples

Resting orders
There are two kinds of resting order:

Working orders (to open)

Attached or contingent orders (to close)

Both consist of limit and stop orders.

Working orders (to open)

Limit order - This is an order to open a position by buying when the market reaches a lower level than the current price, or selling short when the market
hits a higher level than the current price. This is suitable if you think the market price will change direction when it hits a certain level
Stop order - This is an order to buy when the market hits a higher level than the current price, or sell when the market hits a lower level than the current
price. This is suitable if you think the market will continue moving in the same direction once it hits a certain level

Attached or contingent orders (to close)

These orders can be attached to open positions or left as contingent orders attached to working orders to open.

Limit order - This is an order to close a long position when the market reaches a higher level than the current price, or close a short position when the
market reaches a lower level. For example, let’s say you have a long position that’s currently in profit. If you have a target level at which you’d be happy
to collect your gains, you can set a limit to close out your position when and if this level is met. You may then avoid the risk of a subsequent change in
market direction wiping out your profit
Stop order - This is an order to close an open position by selling when the market reaches a lower level, or buying when the market reaches a higher
level. This type of order is known as a stop-loss and is commonly used to close out a position at a predetermined level, effectively restricting the amount
of money you could lose. Adding a stop order means your position will be closed if the market moves too far against you

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