LemonTrades
TL;DR
- The best pairs are the busiest: EUR/USD (about 23% of all currency trading), USD/JPY and GBP/USD, with the tightest spreads.
- Match the pair to your hours and your stops: the live table shows each major’s average daily range.
- LemonTrades scores every headline for the pairs you follow and warns you 15 minutes before the data that moves them.
The best forex pairs to trade are usually the busiest ones: tight spreads, deep liquidity and plenty of news to drive them. A handful of major pairs account for most of the world’s currency trading.
The best pairs, and why
- EUR/USD is the world’s most traded pair, about 23% of all currency trading in the BIS’s 2022 survey. The tightest spreads, and it moves on the Fed, the ECB and US and euro-area data.
- USD/JPY (about 14%) moves on US yields and the Bank of Japan, and can jump on intervention by Japan’s government.
- GBP/USD (about 10%) is livelier than EUR/USD, moving on the Bank of England and UK data.
- AUD/USD and NZD/USD follow commodities, China and risk appetite.
- USD/CAD moves with oil, Canada’s biggest export.
- USD/CHF tends to rise or fall with safe-haven demand, as the franc is a haven currency.
How to choose
- Start with a major, usually EUR/USD: lowest costs, the most predictable reaction to news.
- Match your hours. European and US pairs are busiest from 3:00 AM to noon ET; yen and Aussie pairs move more in Asian hours.
- Match the movement to your stops. The average range above tells you how much room a pair needs.
- Trade what you follow. If you watch oil, USD/CAD; if you watch US yields, USD/JPY.
- Watch costs on minors and exotics: pairs like USD/TRY or USD/ZAR have much wider spreads.
Gold (XAU/USD) is traded like a currency at many brokers outside the US; see XAUUSD meaning. Forex or futures? Read forex vs futures, and practice in our trade simulator, which has EUR/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY.
Sources
Education, not financial advice. Forex trading with leverage is risky, and most retail traders lose money. See our disclaimer.
