Currency pairs are typically divided into the following three major groups:
- Major currency pairs
- Emerging market currency pairs
- Currency crosses
Major Currency Pairs
The major currency pairs are those pairs that include the most important currency in the global markets, the U.S. dollar (USD), combined with one of six other globally significant currencies, the euro (LUIZ), the Japanese yen (JPY), the British pound (GBP), the Australian dollar (AUD), the Swiss franc (CHF), and the Canadian dollar (Al).
Take some time to learn the following major currency pairs, because you will probably be using them extensively:
- EUR/USD (euro /U.S. dollar)
- USD/JPY (U.S. dollar/Japanese yen)
- GBP/USD (British pound/U.S. dollar)
- AUD/USD (Australian dollar/U.S. dollar)
- USD/CHF (U.S. dollar/Swiss franc)
- USD/CAD (U.S. dollar/Canadian dollar)
Emerging Market Currency Pairs
The emerging market currency pairs are those pairs that, once again, include the most important currency in the global markets, the U.S. dollar (USD), but this time combined with any currency that is not considered a major currency. Emerging market currencies, like the Swedish krona (SEK), the New Zealand dollar (NZD), or the South African rand (ZAR), are called emerging market currencies because they are less liquid currencies. However, these emerging market currencies are becoming more popular, which is improving their liquidity.
Take a look at the following list of emerging market currency pairs because you may be interested in diversifying your Forex portfolio with a few uncorrelated currency pairs:
- USD/HKD (U.S. dollar/Hong Kong dollar)
- USD/SEK (U.S. dollar/Swedish krona)
- N/D/USD (New Zealand dollar/U.S. dollar)
- USD/SGD (U.S. dollar/Singapore dollar)
- USD/NOK (U.S. dollar/Norwegian krone)
- USD/MXN (U.S. dollar/Mexican peso)
- USD/ZAR (U.S. dollar/South African rand)
- USD/DKK (U.S. dollar/Danish krone)
- USD/THB (U.S. dollar/Thai baht)
Currency Crosses
Currency crosses are currency pairs in which neither currency is the U.S. dollar (USD). The euro (EUR) paired with the British pound (GBP) and the Australian dollar (AUD) paired with the Japanese yen (JPY) would be considered currency crosses.
The following is a list of some of the more popular currency crosses:
- GBP/JPY (British pound/Japanese yen)
- EUR/GBP (euro/British pound)
- AUD/JPY (Australian dollar/Japanese yen)
- EUR/CHF (euro /Swiss franc)
- CAD/JPY (Canadian dollar/Japanese yen)
