MetaTrader 4 at IC Markets, Set Up From India

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) at IC Markets

• Raw Spread and Standard both open on MT4, and the account is fixed to the platform at registration
• Servers in Equinix NY4, New York, which puts the busiest New York hours between 19:00 IST and roughly 02:30 IST depending on the season
• Swap Free replaces the swap with a flat per-lot overnight holding fee, published per symbol and as high as USD 62 a night on gold
• Stop out at 50% of margin on every account type, tiered margin included

Which IC Markets platform should you use?

The pricing model, the instrument count and the server city all differ across those rows; the account behind them does not. Note the second column in particular — commission is quoted per side, so double it before comparing anything with a spread-only account.

Where the MT4 download lives, and what we checked

Type the address in yourself rather than following a search advert or a forwarded link. The broker's published platform range covers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, MetaTrader WebTrader, cTrader (desktop, web, iOS, Android), TradingView, the IC mobile app, IC Social, Signal Start and ZuluTrade, checked 2 September 2026. The address bar should read ic.com or secure.ic.com; a live check on that date showed icmarkets.com still redirecting to ic.com. This page gives no direct file link and no build/version number, since neither is published on the pages we checked and both can change without notice — read the build number inside the terminal after installing, not from a third-party page.

Installing and first login: account number, password, server

Download from the broker's own platform section, let the browser save the installer rather than running it directly, and check the publisher name Windows shows on the file before opening it. On first login, MetaTrader asks for three values, all issued by the broker: the account number, its password, and the exact server string, which must be selected or typed to match the confirmation you were sent character for character — the broker publishes where the servers physically sit (Equinix NY4, New York, for MT4/MT5; London for cTrader) but not the server strings themselves, since those arrive with your account.

Demo and live are separate accounts on separate servers even though both can sit inside the same terminal, and switching between them means logging in again with the other credential set, not flipping a setting. A password typed into the wrong one of the two is the most common reason a first login is refused.

Trading day in IST: when the New York session is actually active

Nothing about the trading day is Indian, and the gap is arithmetic rather than opinion. Everything below follows from two facts the broker publishes and one India keeps: MT4 and MT5 sit in Equinix NY4 in New York, cTrader sits in London, and IST is a fixed UTC+05:30 with no seasonal change.

What Raw Spread and Standard actually cost, in pips

On a standard lot of EUR/USD a pip is worth USD 10, which makes commission and spread directly comparable. Raw Spread charges USD 3.50 per lot per side, so a round turn is USD 7.00 — the same as 0.7 pips — on top of a broker-stated average EUR/USD spread of 0.1 pips. Standard charges no commission and quotes from 0.8 pips. Both therefore land at roughly 0.8 pips all-in, which means the choice between them is about how the cost is itemised on a statement rather than how large it is.

The other rows differ more. cTrader Raw Spread charges USD 3.00 per USD 100,000 per side, a USD 6.00 round turn or about 0.6 pips, but runs from London servers rather than New York ones. The early-access tiers cut the commission further — Raw Pro at USD 1.50 per side, a USD 3.00 round turn or about 0.3 pips, behind a USD 5,000 minimum, and Raw Pro+ at USD 1.00 per side, USD 2.00 round turn or about 0.2 pips, behind a USD 100,000 minimum. Both of those minimums are dollar figures an Indian account has to buy with rupees before they mean anything.

The free VPS threshold, and what counts toward it

IC VPS is free once a monthly traded-volume threshold is met: 15 lots for the Standard tier (1 CPU, 2GB RAM, 60GB, Windows Server), 30 lots for Pro (2 CPU, 4GB, 80GB) and 75 lots for Premium (4 CPU, 6GB, 90GB). Only forex and precious metals volume counts toward the threshold, and missing the criteria for two consecutive months cancels the subscription automatically and without notice. ForexVPS is the partner alternative, co-located in Equinix with latency to the live server stated at about one millisecond; the full terms sit inside the Secure Client Portal rather than on a public page. For a reader in India this is the one part of the setup where the distance between a terminal and a New York server is a variable you can actually change rather than a talking point.

How far the New York clock sits from yours

India keeps one clock all year, UTC+05:30, with no daylight saving. New York keeps two, and the MT4 servers in Equinix NY4 follow whichever is current. The gap between your wall clock and your chart is therefore 9 hours 30 minutes for roughly eight months of the year and 10 hours 30 minutes for the other four, and it changes on United States dates rather than Indian ones — so a daily candle that closed at 02:30 IST in July closes at 03:30 IST in December with nothing on the chart announcing the shift.

Two habits remove the ambiguity. Read server time from the terminal's own Market Watch rather than converting in your head, and set alerts against the server date, because a MetaTrader daily bar is numbered by the server's day rather than yours. The same caution applies to Higher Margin Requirement windows, which the broker times against market open and close rather than against any fixed hour in IST.

What MT4 cannot settle for an Indian account

Everything above is a matter of setup, and setup is where most guides stop. The question that decides whether any of it applies is not in the terminal at all: the Reserve Bank of India has stated that remittances for margin trading with an overseas counterparty are not a permitted purpose under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, the Foreign Exchange Management Act channel most retail transfers abroad run through, and it lists IC Markets as entry 22 on its Alert List, revised 19 November 2025. Read that at rbi.org.in, in the RBI's own words, before a download or a server string is treated as the last step. This page is independent and takes no legal position of its own.

Confirming the file came from an official source

Read the address from the first slash backwards and confirm it ends at ic.com or secure.ic.com, check that the connection is encrypted and the certificate names that same domain, and check the publisher on a desktop installer or the developer on a store listing. Treat any page offering a faster, patched or unlocked terminal as hostile by definition. A reader in India should also remember that no Indian entity issues this software: it is distributed by the same global broker infrastructure everywhere, with IC Markets listed as entry 22 on the RBI's Alert List and no Indian licence in the chain.

IC Markets MT4 at a glance

IC Markets at a glance

Published IC Markets terms, checked 2 September 2026; confirm the latest details before you trade. Leverage means a high risk of losing money.

IC Markets account types & pricing

Confirm current account terms before you trade; leverage carries a high risk of losing money.

Related IC Markets pages