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What is Forex?
Forex is an online marketplace where people buy and sell currencies in pairs by checking their live rates from different online FX brokers throughout the world.
As there is no physical location where currency trading takes place, Forex is a decentralized market.
The Forex trading volume per day is several times larger than the one recorded in the biggest stock exchanges in the world.
Where can you trade Forex? Forex Major Trading Sessions
The Forex market has four trading sessions during which people can check the live rates of currencies: Sydney (Australia), Tokyo (Japan), London (UK), and New York (the US). Forex trading opens on Monday morning with the Sydney session and closes on Friday afternoon after the New York trading session ends.
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Types of Forex pairs
There are three types of forex available: major, minor, and exotic pairs.
Major pairs
The major FX pairs are those currency pairs that trade the most volume against the dollar. They include: EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, USDCHF, USDAUD and USDCAD.
The majors not only make up a large amount of volume related to economic transactions, they are also among some of the most heavily traded pairs for speculative purposes.
Minor pairs
The minor currency pairs are those that are not associated with the US dollar and are referred to as minor or cross-currency pairs. The most popular in this group include: EURGBP, GBPJPY, EURCHF and AUDCAD.
As these pairs usually trade at lower volumes, they have slightly wider spreads and are not as liquid as the majors. The crosses that trade the most volume tend to be those which pair with a currency that belongs to the majors.
Some examples of crosses include EURGBP, GBPJPY and EURCHF.
Exotic pairs
These are currencies belonging to emerging or smaller economies associated with a major currency, such as USDMXN (US dollar against Mexican Peso). Compared to major and minor pairs, exotic pairs are less liquid and more volatile and come with much bigger spreads.
Most traders tend to speculate on these kinds of currencies only when a major economic event, such as a war, causes an extreme move, either up or down in price.
CFDs and Forex trading
One of the popular ways of investing in Forex is through Contracts for Difference. When trading CFDs, you anticipate whether the price of one currency will rise or fall against another.
When you trade Forex CFDs, there's no physical asset transfer involved. Instead, your transactions take place through a network of financial institutions, on your FX broker's trading platforms.
For example, if you trade the *EUR/USD pair and you think the Euro will rise against the American Dollar, you might want to go long (buy). If you think the Euro will fall, you might want to go short (sell). If you forecast correctly, you will win. If you're wrong, you will lose.
* The first currency you can see in the pair is the base currency, and the second one is the quote currency. When the price of the base currency jumps, the pair’s value also goes up. When the price of the base currency reduces, then the pair’s value decreases.
Factors influencing Forex trading
Important political developments
Tax changes
Consumer & producer preferences – CPI or PPI reports
Interest Rate Decisions - Bank of England MPC Announcements, Fed Interest rate Decisions, etc.
Other market-related FX news
Visit our featured articles section to check out the latest market news on cryptos, stocks, indices, and more!
Forex CFDs trading – key terms
Spread - the cost of trading CFDs relies on the spread (the difference between the sell and the buy price).
Leverage – leverage increases your buying power and lets you open positions with less capital, but also with increased risks. For monitoring your risks and keeping your investment under more control, you can use market orders such as stop loss or take profit.
How to trade CFDs on Forex on CAPEX.com
You can open a CFD on Forex position with CAPEX.com through the device of your choice, be it a smartphone, PC, or tablet.
- It’s straightforward:
- Log in to your account or create account
- Go to the Forex section and choose your favorite instrument
- Set your trade size
- Choose direction (Buy or Sell) based on your assessment of the influencing factors
- Place your trade!
You find it hard to keep a close eye on your trades all the time? Advanced tools are available, especially for this: you can set automatic orders like Take Profit and Stop Loss to manage multiple trades and keep your risks under control!
Trading Conditions for CFDs on Forex
Over 55 currency pairs
Leverage up to 1:300
Tight spreads
Zero commissions for deposits and withdrawals**
*Please note that CAPEX.com, operated by KW Investments Ltd, is not liable for any fees or hidden costs charged by your bank or online payment provider.
Trading Times
Keep in mind that trading hours may vary based on the specifics of every instrument.
For more details, check our dedicated Trading Conditions.
