Average Daily Turnover by Currency Pair

Currency Pairs

Majors: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF
Dollar bloc: USD/CAD, AUD/USD, NZD/USD
Major crosses: EUR/JPY, EUR/GBP, EUR/CHF

Currency Codes

• 
  USD = US Dollar
  EUR = Euro
  JPY = Japanese Yen
  GBP = British Pound
  CHF = Swiss Franc
  CAD = Canadian Dollar
  AUD = Australian Dollar
  NZD = New Zealand Dollar

Currencies

The US dollar is involved in over 80% of all foreign exchange transactions, equivalent to over US$2.7 trillion per day

Technical Analysis

Commonly used technical indicators:
Moving averages
RSI
Fibonacci retracements
Stochastics
MACD
Momentum
Bollinger bands
Pivot point
Elliott Wave

Major Markets

• 
  The US & UK markets account for just over 50% of turnover
  Major markets: London, New York, Tokyo
  Trading activity is heaviest when major markets overlap5
  Nearly two-thirds of NY activity occurs in the morning hours while European markets are open6
  5. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve6. The Foreign Exchange Market in the United States - NY Federal Reserve
  Average Daily Turnover by Geographic Location


• 

Size

Largest financial market in the world
$3.2 trillion average daily turnover, equivalent to:
More than 10 times the average daily turnover of global equity markets1
More than 35 times the average daily turnover of the NYSE2
Nearly $500 a day for every man, woman, and child on earth3
An annual turnover more than 10 times world GDP4
The spot market accounts for just under one-third of daily turnover
1. About $280 billion - World Federation of Exchanges aggregate 2006 2. About $87 billion - World Federation of Exchanges 2006 3. Based on world population of 6.6 billion - US Census Bureau 4. About $48 trillion - World Bank 2006.

Trading Hours

24 hour market
Sunday 5pm EST through Friday 4pm EST.
Trading begins in New Zealand, followed by Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America

Structure

Decentralised, over-the-counter market, also known as the 'interbank' market
Main participants: Central Banks, commercial and investment banks, hedge funds, corporations & private speculators
The free-floating currency system began in the early 1970's and was officially ratified in 1978
Online trading began in the mid to late 1990's
Source: BIS Triennial Survey 2007

Introduction

The following facts and figures relate to the foreign exchange market. Much of the information is drawn from the preliminary results of the 2007 Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity conducted by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in April 2007 and released on September 25, 2007. 54 central banks and monetary authorities participated in the survey, collecting information from approximately 1280 market participants.
"The 2007 survey shows an unprecedented rise in activity in traditional foreign exchange markets compared to 2004. Average daily turnover rose to $3.2 trillion in April 2007, an increase of 71% at current exchange rates and 65% at constant exchange rates. Against the background of low levels of financial market volatility and risk aversion, market participants point to a significant expansion in the activity of investor groups including hedge funds, which was partly facilitated by substantial growth in the use of prime brokerage, and retail investors. A marked increase in the levels of technical trading – most notably algorithmic trading – is also likely to have boosted turnover in the spot market." - BIS