The Forex Minors

Minor or Cross-Currency Pairs

 

What are the Minor Pairs?

Minor Pairs or Forex Crosses are Forex pairs that do not contain the US Dollar. Some of the minor pairs are very popular and very active in the Foreign Exchange market.  The most active minors include Euro on one side (EURGBP, EURJPY, and EURCHF).

» Learn about the Forex Majors 

1. EUR/GBP

Description: Euro (EUR) to British pound sterling (GBP)

• Market Share (BIS): 31.3% vs 12.8%
• Central Banks Involved: » ECB against the » BoE
• Total reserves (including gold): 565 billion USD vs 130 billion USD

EURGBP INFORMATION

The cross rate of EUR to GBP is referred as the ‘Chunnel’ because of the Channel Tunnel that connects UK and Europe. Despite EURGBP is not a Forex Major, it is a very liquid Forex pair. Global brokers offer EUR/GBP in very tight spreads and that makes it a very popular choice for day traders and scalpers.

■ (↑) Historical High: 0.9805 (2008)

■ (↓) Historical Low: 0.5678 (2000) – 0.3380 (1953)

EURGBP KEY FACTS

• Euro (28%) is the second most-held reserve currency in the world, while the British Pound Sterling (4%) is the third
• The Euro area and the UK are very close trade partners
• Germany is the UK's largest single-country trading partner
• British exports to the Eurozone account for 59.7 billion USD
• The Eurozone’s exports to the UK account for 56.5 billion USD

TRADING EURGBP

• EUR/GBP is the most liquid Forex Minor
• The most active hours to trade the EUR/GBP occur between 12.00 and 16.00 GMT
• EURGBP average daily volatility (50 weeks) is 1.10% or 93.79 pips

 

2. EUR/JPY

Description: Euro (EUR) to Japanese yen (JPY)

• Market Share (BIS): 31.3% vs 21.6%
• Central Banks Involved: » ECB against the » BoJ
• Total reserves (including gold): 565 billion USD vs 1,233 billion USD

EURJPY INFORMATION

EURJPY or else the ‘Euppy’ or ‘Yuppy’ is a very popular Forex minor based on the vast economic size of the European and the Japanese economies.

■ (↑) Historical High: 402.49 (1975)

■ (↓) Historical Low: 88.87 (2000)

EURJPY KEY FACTS

• Euro and Yen combined account for 32% of all global currency reserves
• The Japanese economy is the 3rd largest in the world (4.1 trillion USD GDP)
• Japan is holding the second-largest amount of foreign reserves worldwide (after China)
• The Japanese exports to Eurozone account for 7 billion USD
• The Eurozone’s exports to Japan account for 56.5 billion USD

TRADING EURJPY

• EURJPY is highly correlated to USDJPY
• EURJPY enjoys considerably large liquidity and very tight trading spreads
• EURJPY average daily volatility (50 weeks) is 1.09% or 134.54 pips

 

3. GBP/JPY

Description: British pound sterling (GBP) to Japanese yen (JPY)

• Market Share (BIS): 12.8% vs 21.6%
• Central Banks Involved: » BoE against the » BoJ
• Total reserves (including gold): 130 billion USD vs 1.233 billion USD

GBPJPY INFORMATION

GBPJPY or else the ‘Geppy’ or ‘Gopher’ is a heavy-traded and volatile Forex pair. GBPJPY daily movements can be intense (more than 250 pips).

■ (↑) Historical High: 864.77 (1971)

■ (↓) Historical Low: 116.79 (2011)

GBPJPY KEY FACTS

• The United Kingdom has the fifth-largest economy in the world while the Japanese economy is the third-largest in the world
• London is the largest financial center in the world (37% of all daily foreign exchange transactions)
• Japan is holding the second-largest amount of foreign reserves worldwide (after China)

TRADING GBPJPY

• GBPJPY average daily volatility (50 weeks) is 1.57% or 227.02 pips

 

4. EUR/CHF

Description: Euro (EUR) to Swiss franc (CHF)

• Market Share (BIS): 31.3% vs 4.8%
• Central Banks Involved: » ECB against the » SNB
• Total reserves (including gold): 565 billion USD vs 602 billion USD

EURCHF INFORMATION

The Euro to Swiss Franc or else the ‘Euro-Swissy’ consist a liquid Forex cross. The two currencies are highly correlated to its other and that explains the tight daily volatility of EURCHF.

■ (↑) Historical High: 4.5194 (1953)

■ (↓) Historical Low: 0.8696 (2015)

EURCHF KEY FACTS

• The Swiss Franc is the official currency of Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Campione d'Italia
• Switzerland is a global financial center. Zurich is the center for retail banking and insurance while Geneva is the center for private banking and wealth management
• Switzerland is the 4th largest trading partner of the Eurozone
• Swiss exports to the EU include mainly chemicals and medicinal products, machinery, and watches

TRADING EURCHF

• The Euro and the Swiss Franc are the 2nd and 6th most heavily traded currencies worldwide
• According to the OECD, the CHF is the most over-valued Forex currency (24.3%) among all the majors
• EUR/CHF is highly correlated to USD/CHF
• EURCHF average daily volatility (50 weeks) is 0.65% or 69.06 pips

 

5. GBP/CHF

Description: British pound sterling (GBP) to Swiss franc (CHF)

• Market Share (BIS): 12.8% vs 4.8%
• Central Banks Involved: » BoE against the » SNB
• Total reserves (including gold): 130 billion USD vs 602 billion USD

GBPCHF INFORMATION

GBP/CHF is highly influenced by the monetary policies of the two central banks involved (Bank of England and Swiss National Bank). Although both the two currencies are highly correlated to Euro, GBPCHF is a very volatile Forex cross.

■ (↑) Historical High: 10.4057 (1971)

■ (↓) Historical Low: 1.1320 (2015)

GBPCHF KEY FACTS

• London is the largest financial center in the world (37% of all daily foreign exchange transactions)
• The Swiss Franc is the official currency of Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Campione d'Italia
• Switzerland is the 3rd largest UKs partner (32.2 billion USD), and the UK shows a trade surplus of $22.5 billion
• After China, Switzerland is the highest growth market for UK exports
• Switzerland is the fastest-growing importer of services from the United Kingdom
• Switzerland is the UK’s 8th largest foreign direct investor (£39 billion stock value).

TRADING GBPCHF

• The mid-term trend of GBPCHF is strongly influenced by the policies of the two central banks involved
• Switzerland's franc is considered a ‘safe heaven’ during times of financial turmoil
• GBPCHF's average daily volatility (50 weeks) is 1.27% or 159.87 pips 

 

TRADING THE FOREX MINORS -COMPARE FX BROKERS

ECN Brokers offering the best trading terms for trading the Forex Minors (Regulation, Spreads, Free VPS, etc.)

FOREX BROKER	TRADING TERMS	ACCOUNTS	INFO
IC MARKETS » IC MARKETS WEBSITE   US TRADERS: NO ISLAMIC ACCOUNTS: YES EXECUTION: ECN / STP	SPREADS EURGBP: 0.5 pip EURJPY: 0.6 pip EURCHF: 0.6 pip GBPJPY: 1.2 pip COMMISSIONS: $7.0 / lot SCALPING: YES AUTOMATED TRADING: YES SLIPPAGE: 2.0 pip LEVERAGE: 1:500 FREE VPS: YES (100 round turn lots per calendar month are required)	PLATFORMS: MetaTrader-4, MetaTrader-5, MT4 for iPhone and Android, cTrader, Mobile cTrader cAlgo MIN. DEPOSIT: $200 for the MT4 account and $1,000 for the cTrader account FUND METHODS: Bank Wire Credit Card Skrill Webmoney Neteller BONUS: NO BONUS REBATES: $1.2 / lot via Forex-Rebates.com	KEY POINTS Tight Spreads cTrader and cAlgo plus MT4 Low latency   ► Register a Demo Account with IC MARKETS ► Register a Real ECN Account with IC MARKETS   ► Review IC Markets

 

 

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