Forex Currency Pairs

Learn all about currency pairs that are traded on the Forex market

If you have read the previous Forex trading guide where I have shown you what is Forex then you know that currencies are exchanged on the Forex.

Many participants are exchanging currencies and trading currencies.

But do you know what Forex currency exchange is, what is currency pair, which currency pair is good to pick if you are a beginner in Forex trading?

Major, Minor and Cross Forex Currency Pairs

Major currency pair is the pair that consists of USD currency. There are other currency pairs on the Forex market that do not have USD included, but they have other big currencies.

Those currency pairs are called minor currency pairs or cross currency pairs. One of those is the EUR/GBP currency pair or EUR/AUD currency pair.

And the third combination is exotic currency pairs which do not include big currencies as a base and quote currency in the currency pair.

For example one of the exotic currency pairs is EUR/MXN, Mexican Peso, or EUR/PLN which is Eur against Polish Zloty.

Here is an article for you about Major currency pairs where you can find more informations about them. You will learn what is base and quote currency and how the currency pair price is defined.

Forex Currency Pairs Exchange

To explain more in detail about currency pairs you need to read more about Forex Currency Exchange.

You will learn that currency exchange is a place where currencies are exchanged. That is the place, bank or exchange office, that gives you certain currency in exchange for another one.

If you are traveling from the US to Europe you will need to exchange US dollars to Euro. That way you will be able to pay the costs in Europe.

For exchanging one currency to another you will pay some fee. That is the commission bak or exchange office takes from you when exchanging. It is their profit for making an exchange for you.

How the commission is defined and how to read quotes you see on the dashboard in the exchange office you can read in the article about Forex Currency Exchange.

Forex Currency Pairs Rates

Visiting an exchange office can be stressful because of exchange rates you see on the display or on the dashboard.

Currency exchange rates are the numbers that tell you how much one currency you can get when exchanging for another.

You will currency pair with the exchange rate next to it. That number tells you how much one currency is worth of the second one.

In the case of EUR/USD currency pairs you have one price next to it. It can be:

EUR/USD = 1.2134

This is the exchange rate of EUR/USD currency pairs where you can see how much 1 Euro is worth the U.S. dollar.

To give you more details with examples I suggest you read the article about Forex Currency Exchange Rates.

The Best Forex Currency Pairs

Not all currency pairs are good to trade. And if you are a beginner in Forex trading then it will be hard to pick which currency pair is good to trade.

There are certain Forex trading basics you need to know when selecting the currency pair for trading. One of the most important things is to have a good spread which means low cost for trading.

Second thing is volatility which means the currency pair must be tradeable. Tradeable means other traders are trading that pair.

Earlier I have said you have major currency pairs. The best is to use major currency pairs because they are mostly traded on the Forex market.

Here is a list of all of them and a link to them so you can read more about them and find out why they are the best currency pairs to trade.

How to Choose Forex Currency Pairs

There are certain steps on how to pick currency pairs for trading. And each step required skills so you end up with the best currency pair.

Step one: find all major currency pairs
Step two: choose a currency pair that is traded when you are available
Step three: choose a currency pair with moderate volatility
Step four: choose low cost currency pair
Step five: check does the pair respects support and resistance level
Step six: check does the pair respects trend lines

When you know all these steps you will pick the best ones for you.

To help you with all the steps I have made and an article that will explain you details.

You will examples how to go through each step so it is much easier to understand.

Check this article where I show you steps how to choose Forex Currency Pairs in Forex.

Forex Currency Pair Strength

When making an analysis on a certain currency pair you can check the currency strength to determine the direction of the pair.

For example you can check dollar strength to see what is the strength against compared to other currencies.

You can use a currency strength meter to see the current market strength of each currency.

When you know the strength of the currency you can pick the strongest and weakest and trade one against another.

If the currency is strong then you can buy that currency and pick the weakest currency based on the position of the quoted currency.

For example if the USD currency is the strongest and CAD is the weakest then you can buy USD/CAD currency pair.

If you want to see examples of how that looks using a currency strength meter check this article where I will show you how to measure dollar strength.

List of Forex Currency Pairs

Here is a list of Forex currency pairs you will encounter in trading on the Forex.

Each pair has its own special characteristic so it is good to know about them at least what their nicknames are, like Cable, Ninja etc…

Later on when you learn how to trade you will return here to check more about the pip range of the pair which is useful in Forex trading analysis.

EUR/USD Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is EUR/USD.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the EUR/USD pair.

GBP/USD Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is GBP/USD.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the GBP/USD pair.

EUR/JPY Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is EUR/JPY.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the EUR/JPY pair.

USD/JPY Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is USD/JPY.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the USD/JPY pair.

AUD/JPY Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is AUD/JPY.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the AUD/JPY pair.

GBP/JPY Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is GBP/JPY.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the GBP/JPY pair.

EUR/CHF Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is EUR/CHF.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the EUR/CHF pair.

USD/CHF Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is USD/CHF.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the USD/CHF pair.

NZD/USD Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is NZD/USD.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the NZD/USD pair.

EUR/GBP Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is EUR/GBP.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the EUR/GBP pair.

USD/CAD Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is USD/CAD.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the USD/CAD pair.

AUD/USD Forex Currency Pair

Now it is time to dive into Forex currency pairs and the first one is AUD/USD.

This article will show you all the details you need to know about the AUD/USD pair.

CFD in Forex

CFD means Contract For Difference and in Forex is used to trade currencies.

CFD in Forex means that you will make a contract with your broker. You will buy or sell one currency pair with prediction that the price will move in your favor.

There is a difference between CFD and Forex and there is cost for trading CFD.

In the following article I will explain to you what is CFD in Forex so take your time and read it.

GU in Forex

While reading or trading on Forex you have encountered someone saying GU. While it consists of two letters it is common to use that letter combination.

It is a combination you will see a lot and do not get confused. GU stands for GBP/USD pair which I have explain above.

But, there are more details about GU so I suggest read more to find more details what is meaning of GU in Forex.

GJ in Forex

While reading or trading on Forex you have encountered someone saying GJ. While it consists of two letters it is common to use that letter combination.

It is a combination you will see a lot and do not get confused. GU stands for GBP/USD pair which I have explain above.

But, there are more details about GJ so I suggest read more to find more details what is meaning of GJ in Forex.