Which Are the Best Currency Pairs to Trade Forex?

Currency pairs are a very much like people, each one has its own personality. They move in different ways, make different trading patterns and have different volatility levels.

So which are the pairs that you should focus on and which should you avoid? The video above goes into this and below I’ll share some of my thoughts on this subject.

The EUR/USD

This is the easiest pair to the trade. The Euro reacts well to support and resistance levels and is very predictable. Recommended for new traders or traders who couldn’t make any pips with other currency pairs.

The volatility in the single currency is at a comfortable middle range, not as wild as the Yen pairs, but not a dud like the EUR/CHF either. In short, this is a currency pair you definitely need to learn how to trade.

The EUR/GBP

Range Trading full stop. This pair trends a very small amount of the time and is perfect for playing the ranges.

The closeness between the UK and Europe’s economy means that neither currency can move too far from each other. If Europe’s doing badly it will reflect on UK’s economy too, leading to a lower Sterling level as well.

The Yen Pairs

The EUR/JPY GBP/JPY AND AUD/JPY are wild animals. The recent experimental monetary policy by the Bank of Japan with its massive commitment to money printing has lead to unprecedented volatility levels in the Yen pairs.

It’s not uncommon to see these pairs swing up 200 to 300 pips one day and then fall 200 pips the next. Use extreme caution with these currency pairs if you’re new to trading.

The AUD/JPY? There is no free lunch

The video singles out the Australian Dollar versus the Yen as one of the currency pairs you need to learn to trade. It proceeds to mention the “Carry Trade” as one of the reasons for this.

If you have a long position in the AUD/JPY pair you will gain around 0.5 to 0.6 of a pip each day you hold the trade.

While this sounds great at first, there is no free lunch in trading. This trading opportunity is well known and exploited by the retailer and professional traders alike.

When the trend in the Yen pairs reverses and carry trades unwind, the currency pairs with the biggest carry are usually hit the hardest on a percentage basis.