Commodity currencies like the Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand dollars move closely with the raw materials their export-driven economies depend on.
Safe haven currencies like the US dollar, Japanese yen, and Swiss franc are expected to retain or gain value specifically during periods of market turmoil and geopolitical stress.
A pip is the standard unit forex traders use to measure price movement, while a pipette is a smaller, more precise fractional unit equal to one-tenth of a pip.
Every currency pair has a base currency being measured and a quote currency doing the measuring, and understanding the difference is essential to reading any forex quote correctly.
The bid-ask spread is the built-in cost of every forex trade, the gap between the price a trader can sell at and the price a trader can buy at.
The interest rate differential between two currencies powers the classic forex carry trade, where a trader earns the rate gap by borrowing low-yield and buying high-yield currency.
GDP growth impacts a country’s currency value by shaping economic performance, interest rate expectations, and capital flows into or out of that economy.
USD/JPY held steady near 159 as accelerating Japanese inflation strengthened the case for a near-term Bank of Japan rate hike.
EUR/USD extended its advance to a fourth straight session near 1.1680, supported by dollar weakness and easing Eurozone inflation expectations.
Quantitative easing is a central bank tool that expands the money supply and lowers yields through large-scale asset purchases, typically weakening a currency.