Which are the Major Currency Pairs in Forex? - Where Can I Find Major Pairs List?
Major Currency Pairs List - Where Can I Find Major Pairs List?
- EURUSD
- USDJPY
- GBPUSD
- USDCHF
Major Currency Pairs Traded in the Market
Market turnover is approximately 7.2 trillion dollars per day, 95 % of all trading transactions are carried out by speculators for profit. The Majority of these transactions is comprised of the five major currencies that are comprised of:
- USD
- EUR
- GBP
- JPY
- CHF
The above currency symbols represent currencies of their various countries, the 3 letter naming format is used. This is the currency naming format used in Forex when trading these currencies, for those not familiar with currency symbols the above represent the following; USD - US Dollar, EUR - EURO, GBP - Great Britain Pound, JPY - Japanese Yen & CHF - Swiss Franc.
The USD is the most traded pair
USD - 85% of all daily market transactions
EUR - 40% of all daily market transactions
JPY - 20% of all daily market transactions
GBP - 13 % of all daily market transactions
CHF - 9 % of all daily market transactions
US Dollar or USD - the United States dollar is the main currency of the world. It is used as the standard measure of all other forex currencies that are transacted in the market. All others are generally quoted in terms of US dollar.
The US dollar is a safe haven currency, because it is held as a reserve by many central banks. In times of economic recession the dollar will strengthen due to the fact that traders and investors buy the dollar because of its safe haven status. On the other hand when the economies are doing well people will go for those that are higher yielding such as the EURO, Pound, Swiss Franc and Australian Dollar.
In the market the dollar is traded against other major currencies, these are Euro, Japanese Yen, British Pound & Swiss Franc.
Euro or EUR - Euro has a strong international presence because it represents 17 Euro-zone member countries of the European Monetary Union. Because the Euro represents 17 economies, this makes the Euro the second most transacted after the US dollar.
Japanese Yen or JPY - Japanese Yen is the third most transacted in the world because of its liquidity. Japanese economy is the second biggest economy after the US economy.
British Pound or GBP - Britain economy is the third largest economy after the US & the Japanese Economy. This makes the British pound liquid & it is the fourth most transacted in the market.
Swiss Franc or CHF - Swiss Franc is the only major of a major European country that does not belong to the European Monetary Union or G-7 countries. Although the Swiss economy is relatively small, the Swiss Franc is one of the five major currencies in the Market. This is because of the strength of the Swiss banking system and the Swiss economy which makes the Swiss Franc stable with a high demand that exceeds supply.
The Canadian Dollar or CAD and the Australian Dollar or AUD are also part of the currencies traded on the market but these do not count as being part of the majors because of their illiquidity.
