How to Start Trading: A Beginner’s Guide by Octa Broker

The
Asian financial markets are experiencing a substantial increase in interest
from novice traders. In Southeast Asia, online trading has expanded rapidly,
driven by growing internet access and an increasingly digital-savvy population.
In Indonesia, active online traders grew by 18%,
supported by a thriving e-commerce sector and rising financial literacy. Across
Southeast Asia, the digital economy is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, highlighting the region’s fast-paced growth and
the broadening appeal of financial trading as a means to diversify income
streams and improve financial security.

While
the trend for trading is obvious, beginners often find themselves lost in the
whirlpool of markets, assets, graphs, and tools. To facilitate entry for novice
traders, Octa, a broker with globally recognised licences, explains how to get
started and what assets to consider for first trades. It also offers vital tips
on diversification and risk management.

3 assets for beginner traders

For
those just starting their trading journey, selecting the right assets is
crucial. Beginners should focus on stable, liquid, and widely traded
instruments that offer enough volatility for profit opportunities but not too
much unpredictability. In this guide, Octa explores three such assets.

Gold

Gold’s
historical stability makes it a great choice for beginner traders. It is less
volatile than other financial instruments, and its liquidity ensures that
traders can always find buyers or sellers when they need to close a position.
Additionally, gold is well-supported by fundamental factors like inflation and
geopolitical tensions, offering traders steady opportunities over the long
term.

In
2024, with global markets facing heightened volatility and currencies in key
Asian economies, including India and China, experiencing depreciation
pressures, gold’s appeal has strengthened. According to the OECD Economic
Outlook for Southeast Asia, China, and India 2024, currency fluctuations and rising inflation in
these regions have prompted investors to seek more stable assets, making gold
an increasingly attractive option.

Gold
demand in Asia has surged to notable levels in 2024, driven by increased
investments in gold bars and jewellery across the region. Thailand, for
instance, saw consumer gold demand soar by 20% to 9 tonnes in Q2 2024, marking the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia.
With the festive season approaching in countries like India, the World Gold
Council anticipates further boosts in gold demand, which, combined with global
inflationary pressures, has pushed gold prices higher. For beginner traders,
these stable and growing trends make gold an attractive asset for both
stability and long-term growth potential.

For beginners, trading gold is
fairly straightforward. They can either take long positions (buy gold when they
believe prices will rise) or short positions (sell when they expect prices to
fall). As a basic example below shows, those who opened long positions at
$2,604 per ounce have already seen gains of $116 per ounce. With a 1,000-ounce
trade, this translates into a profit of $116,000.

EURUSD

The EURUSD pair is among the most
popular and liquid in the Forex market, making it perfect for beginners.
Liquidity is key here, as it promotes tight spreads and allows traders to enter
and exit positions without facing significant slippage. Furthermore, EURUSD
trading volumes are among the highest globally, allowing beginners to buy and
sell easily, even with small amounts of capital.

Moreover, this currency pair is
preferable for beginners due to the wide availability of market information.
Anyone can easily find analyses, forecasts, and educational resources online,
making it simpler to understand how the asset behaves. The EURUSD pair is also
relatively stable, meaning that wild price swings are less common, allowing
beginners to learn the market without excessive volatility. As the example
below shows, traders who sold EURUSD at $1.12 and closed at $1.08 earned $333
from a 0.1-lot trade. This illustrates that even small trades can bring
tangible profits.

Beginners can start by analysing
key economic data from both the U.S. and the Eurozone. The pair reacts to major
announcements like GDP figures, interest rate changes, and employment reports.
However, it’s advised to avoid trading when news is released, to protect one’s
capital from unexpected volatility.

Brent and WTI

Brent and WTI (West Texas
Intermediate) crude oil are two of the most significant commodities traded
worldwide, often referred to as ‘black gold’. They are attractive assets for
beginners because of their liquidity and frequent price movements, allowing for
opportunities to profit in both rising and falling markets.

Oil is a highly liquid commodity,
meaning that traders can easily buy and sell contracts without much risk of
slippage. Furthermore, oil prices are strongly influenced by global factors
such as geopolitical events, supply chain disruptions, and shifts in energy
policies. This gives traders clear cues to watch for when planning their
trades. One of the most common strategies for trading oil is to follow
geopolitical events and OPEC’s (The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries) decisions, which can influence prices dramatically. However, traders
should also keep in mind that such events may provoke increased volatility.

Beginners can easily enter oil
trading as a rather small deposit is enough. In the example below, traders who
opened a sell order on Brent at $79 and closed it at $69 earned a $1,000 profit
from just a $100 capital investment.

Diversification as the #1 rule for beginners

Diversification is spreading your
investments across different asset classes to reduce risk. The idea is that if
one asset underperforms, others in the portfolio may still do well, helping to
protect your capital.

For beginner traders,
diversification is an essential risk management strategy. Instead of putting
their whole capital into one asset, such as gold or oil, they can spread their
investment across multiple assets, reducing the risk of large losses. Diversifying
also allows traders to take advantage of different market conditions. For
instance, when gold prices rise during times of uncertainty, oil may experience
price drops due to falling demand.

Kar Yong Ang, financial market
analyst at Octa broker, notes: ‘Diversification
isn’t just a strategy—it’s a
necessity for new traders. By allocating funds across multiple assets, you
protect your portfolio from unexpected market movements, ensuring that no
single downturn significantly impacts your trading results.’ He adds that a
well-diversified portfolio might allocate 40% to gold, 30% to EURUSD, and 30%
to Brent crude oil.

5 tips for beginner traders

1. Learn the market basics: Start
   by understanding the fundamentals of the financial markets. Learn what
   drives asset prices and how market events, like geopolitical changes or
   central bank announcements, can affect the assets you’re trading.
2. Practise on a demo account: Before
   risking real money, use a demo account to trade in simulated conditions.
   This gives you a chance to familiarise yourself with the platform, learn
   the ropes, and refine your strategies without financial risk.
3. Limit exposure to 5% of your
   deposit: One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is over-leveraging.
   Never risk more than 5% of your total deposit on any single trade. This
   way, even if a trade goes wrong, you won’t lose your entire account
   balance.
4. Diversify your portfolio: Spread
   your investments across different assets. By diversifying, you reduce risk
   and make your portfolio more resilient to market fluctuations.
5. Commit to continuous learning: The
   financial markets are always changing, and successful traders are those
   who never stop learning. Stay up-to-date on market news, attend webinars,
   and continuously study new strategies to stay ahead.

Conclusion

For beginner traders in Asia
starting with reliable assets such as gold, the EURUSD currency pair, and oil
provides a solid foundation. Trading offers the opportunity to create
additional income but requires careful planning, strategic diversification, and
continuous learning.

By following these tips and
focusing on stable, widely traded assets, you can build a profitable trading
strategy while managing risk effectively. Remember that patience and discipline
are key, and with the right approach, trading can become a valuable source of
income.

About
Octa

Octa is an
international broker that has been providing online trading services worldwide
since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and a variety
of services used by clients from 180 countries who have opened more than 52
million trading accounts. To help its clients reach their investment goals,
Octa offers free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools.

The company is involved in a
comprehensive network of charitable and humanitarian initiatives, including the
improvement of educational infrastructure and short-notice relief projects
supporting local communities.

Since its foundation, Octa has won
more than 70 awards, including the ‘Best Forex Broker 2023’ award from
AllForexRating and the ‘Best Mobile Trading Platform 2024’ award from Global
Brand Magazine.

This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.