Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial intermediary, has taken a punt on the rapid growth in popularity in spread betting with the launch of Cantor Index, a spread betting service that will allow gamblers to spread bet on the world's financial markets.

Cantor Index will accept spread bets on individual shares, stock indices, currencies, commodities and bond futures. Additionally, it intends to offer innovative products like its tradable futures on sectorial indices based on the FTSE All-Share index.