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What is forex trading and how does it work?

Foreign Exchange is abbreviated as FOREX, and it is the world's largest financial asset market. Forex trade focuses on the sale of currencies all over the world, with a daily trading volume of more than $5 trillion dollars. The foreign exchange industry is a global market. It's available 24 hours a day, five days a week (Monday through Friday).

Simply put, Forex trading is the act of betting on the movement of exchange rates by purchasing one currency and selling another at the same time. A variety of economic, geopolitical, and technological factors cause currency values to rise (appreciate) and fall (depreciate) against each other.

The Forex market consists of currencies from all over the world, and the sheer number of variables that can influence price fluctuations makes forecasting exchange rates difficult. However, like most financial markets, Forex is largely influenced by supply and demand rules, which must be understood in order to understand how price fluctuations occur.

Foreign exchange markets are divided into three categories:

  • Forex spot market: This is the actual exchange of a currency pair that occurs at the exact moment the transaction is settled or within a short time frame.
  • Forex forward market: A contract is made to purchase or sell a certain amount of currency at a certain price, with an expiration date set in the future (or within a range of future dates).
  • Forex futures market: A contract is an agreement to buy or sell a certain quantity of a specific currency at a certain price on a certain future date. A futures contract, unlike a forward, is legally binding.

How does forex trading work?

There are many ways to exchange Forex, but they all include simultaneously purchasing one currency and selling another. Forex transactions were previously conducted via a conventional broker, but thanks to online trading platforms, you can now invest from anywhere.

Forex trading is a type of practise, or even a profession, in which currency pairs are bought and sold in order to bet on price movements. Anyone with a computer and Internet access is welcome to participate in this activity. Day trading and foreign trading are all forms of forex trading. Every day, states, businesses, and even individuals like you exchange currencies.

This trading is done through computer networks that connect traders all over the world. The Forex market, also known as the currency market, is the world's largest and most liquid market for this purpose. It's the most available, and as a result, it's also the most risky.

What is the first currency?

The first currency is the one that comes before the pair, and the second currency is the one that comes after. Buying one currency and selling another is the basis of all forex trading, which is why currencies are classified as pairs. The value of a unit of the first currency in the second currency is used to calculate the price of a pair.

A three-letter code is used to identify the currencies of a pair, with the first two letters usually corresponding to the area and the third to the currency itself. The most widely used trading currencies are:

The US dollar, the Euro, the Pound Sterling, the Japanese Yen, and the Swiss Franc.

The following currency pairs make up the category of big Forex currency pairs:

EUR/USD • USD/JPY • USD/CHF • GBP/USD 

The following categories are used by most providers to identify currency pairs:

  • Senior pairs : The EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, and USD/CHF are the seven currency pairs that account for 80% of global Forex trading.
  • Minor pairs : These are less commonly traded and usually include major currencies other than the US dollar. EUR/GBP, EUR/CHF, and GBP/JPY are all included.
  • Exotic pairs : In a small or developing economy, these are made up of a major currency versus another. USD/PLN, GBP/MXN, and EUR/CZK are all included.
  • Regional pairs : These are regional pairs, such as Scandinavian or Australasian. EUR/NOK, AUD/NZD, and AUS/SGD are all included.

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