Short selling - Error 'you have no existing position to close on this market'

[Varma]

Hi All, I am new to IG and trying to short sell Microsoft shares but i am getting an error when in click on sell and sell button is disables. Can anybody throw some light on this please?

[ArvinIG]

4 hours ago, Varma said:

Hi All, I am new to IG and trying to short sell Microsoft shares but i am getting an error when in click on sell and sell button is disables. Can anybody throw some light on this please?

Hi @Varma,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the IG Community.

On Share Dealing and ISA accounts you can only short if you already purchased the stock previously.

For example you bought 10 shares of Microsoft, then you can sell up to 10 shares of Microsoft.
Share dealing accounts allow you to purchase shares and own the asset. Why Leveraged account like CFD or Spread Betting, allow you to pay a small portion of the full price to gain exposure.

Short-selling works by the trader borrowing the underlying asset from a trading broker and then immediately selling it at the current market price. You don’t actually own the asset.
Please read through the blog posted yesterday about short selling for a better understanding.

You will need to use a leveraged account to short sell Microsoft shares.

Feel free to have a look into the IG Academy which is a free educational tool provided by IG:
https://www.ig.com/uk/learn-to-trade/ig-academy

I hope that it helps !

All the best - Arvin