The foreign exchange or the forex market is accepted as the most active and liquid financial markets in the world. Global daily forex turnover is estimated to be over $1.7 trillion.

The spot forex market is an over-the-counter market and is different from exchange-traded products because it has no physical location or central exchange. Foreign exchange trading takes place in the world major financial trading centers with the main centers being London, New York and Tokyo.

Trading hours are rarely restricted and prices are typically available in the major currency pairs almost without interruption during the working week. This liquidity and frequent volatility makes the trading of currencies an attractive investment opportunity for the experienced market participant.

Forex trading has many investment benefits some of which are:

• Liquidity - With over one trillion US dollars traded daily in the Forex market and with millions of participants and transactions daily, there is always the opportunity to enter and exit the market at transparent pricing.
• 24 hr trading - The market operates around the clock, from the Sydney market on Monday morning to the close of the US market on Friday creating a 24 hour market. One of the biggest advantages of trading forex is the opportunity to trade 24 hours a day. This enables traders to react and take advantage of market movements at all times.
• Increase in leverage -Leveraged trading, also referred to as margin trading, allow investors in the Forex market to execute trades up to $100,000 with an initial margin around $1,000.
• Predictable market - The Forex market follows frequently repeated trends. Currency markets exhibit certain regularities, creating price trends for market participants to follow. These price trends increase the chances of trading profitably.
• Lower transaction costs

Forex market is much more cost efficient to invest in terms of both commissions and transaction fees. In general, the width of the spread in a FX transaction is less than 1/10 as wide as a stock transaction.

• Profit from all market movements - With forex, the market is continuously moving, so there are always trading opportunities, whether a currency is strengthening or weakening in relation to another currency. Thus, a trader has the ability to profit on both short and long trading strategies.

Specifications:

 1. Major Currencies:

 2. Crosses

Examples

• Example 1: Buying EUR / USD Contract
  
  1. (Close price - open price) – (1.3810 - 1.3743 = 67 points)
  2. (points * pip value * number of lots) - (67 * 10 * 2 = 1340 US$)
  3. So the gross profit for the previous transaction is 1340 $.

A client believes that the EUR is due to rise in the future against US dollar, to get benefit of the situation the client intends to buy EURUSD. EURUSD is quoted at 1.3740 – 1.3743, the client buys 2 lots at 1.3743, the client requires minimum deposit around 1300 $ for each lot (1% Leverage).

EURUSD prices rise to 1.3810 – 1.3813, the client is satisfied with his profit and wants to close his positions, he therefore sells 2 lots of EURUSD at 1.3810, so the client has made profit of 67 points (1.3810 - 1.3743 = 0.0067) . To calculate the profit we will do the following:

*Commission charges are NOT included in the above calculations

• Example 2: Buying USD/JPY Contract
  
  1. (Close price - open price) – (112.95 – 112.53 = 0.42 points)
  2. (points * Contract Size * one lot / Closing Price) - (42 * 100.000 * 1/112.95 = 371.84 US$)
  3. (profit for one lot * Number of lots) – (371.84 * 4 = 1487.36$)
  4. So the gross profit for the previous transaction is 1487.36 $.

A client believes that the JPY will weaken in the future against US dollar, to get benefit of the situation the client intends to buy USDJPY. (Buying USD & selling JPY)

USDJPY is quoted at 112.50– 112.53, the client buys 4 lots at 112.53, the client requires minimum deposit of 1000 $ for each lot.

USDJPY prices rise to 112.95– 112.98, the client is satisfied with his profit and wants to close his positions, he therefore sells 4 lots of USDJPY at 112.95, so the client has made profit of 42 points (112.95 – 112.53 = 0.42) . To calculate the profit we will do the following:

^*Commission charges are NOT included in the above calculations.

 

 

** Above contract specifications listed according to daylight saving time (DST – ON / Summer time)

 

Download Contract Specifications – All Instruments (DST – Daylight Saving Time / Summer) HERE

Download Contract Specifications – All Instruments (Standard Time / Winter) HERE



** Regular Trading hours may be affected by market holidays or amendments when applying daylight saving time in Europe or the USA; Announcements on the website and/or the live trading platform will be published to declare such changes.

** All times and specifications above are subject of change without any prior notice