Foreign Exchange (Forex) Definition

What is Foreign Exchange?

Foreign exchange is the conversion of one currency into another currency. It is a relative value of one currency to another, the term is usually abbreviated as forex and in some cases as FX.

If everyone in the world used US Dollars there would be no need of money exchange in the world. In international market the term is used for buying and selling of products since use of different currencies. For example if an Australian retailer needs to buy high fashioned dresses made in Milan Italy, the retailer will have to pay in Euro Dollars this is because the Milanese dress maker transacts business in Euro dollars only. This means the Australian retailer will have to exchange his Australian Dollar for Euro Dollars to pay for the order. But how many Euro Dollars will equal the Australian Dollar? The answer comes from the Foreign exchange market, where currencies are traded for products and services, stocks, bonds or any other financial product.

How Does Foreign Exchange Work?

Imagine you live in US and you plan to go to Switzerland that means you need to convert some dollars USD into Swiss Franc CHF. You need to know the exchange rate of USD/CHF, it is 1.0249 CHF to buy a USD. Exchange rates are typically carried out to the fourth or fifth place. This allows good pricing in the exchange rate.

Currency	Currency Name	Exchange Rate
USD	US Dollar	1.0783
JPY	Japanese Yen	114.91
BGN	Bulgarian Lev	1.9558
CZK	Czech Koruna	27.158
DKK	Danish Koruna	7.4605
GBP	Pound Sterling	0.87478
HUF	Hungarian Forint	349.36
PLN	Polish zloty	4.5467
RON	Romanian Leu	4.8235
SEK	Swedish Krona	10.6200
CHF	Swiss Franc	1.0530
ISK	ICElandic Krona	159.10
NOK	Norwegian Krona	11.0405
HRK	Croatian Kuna	7.5665
RUB	Russian Rouble	79.5801
TRY	Turkish Lira	7.7792
AUD	Australian Dollar	1.6704
BRL	Brazilian Real	6.2271
CAD	Canadian Dollar	1.5177
CNY	Chinese Yuan renminbi	7.6427
HKD	Hong Kong Dollar	8.3580
IDR	Indonesian rupiah	16223.02
ILS	Israeli Shekel	3.7881
INR	Indian Rupee	81.7685
KRW	South Korean won	1320.18
MXN	Mexican Peso	26.0677
MYR	Malaysian Ringgit	4.6631
NZD	New Zealand Dollar	1.7820
PHP	Philippine Peso	54.497
SGD	Singapore Dollar	1.5303
THB	Thai Baht	34.969
ZAR	South African Rand	20.0698

What is a PIP in Forex?

A PIP is the percentage in point or percentage on point. It is the smallest unit of measurement in the forex market. For example in case of 1.02490 the pip is the digit 9. Consider an exchange rate of a currency pair moved from 1.35000 to 1.35100, it will be said that the market has moved 10 PIPs.

Factors that Affect Currency Values

The currency value keeps changing due to the factors such as:

• Balance of payments

It includes three types of accounts, current account, capital account and Official reserve account. If balance of payment is surplus it means there is a great inflow of currency into the country, which means foreign currency is coming into that country so supply of foreign currency is increasing into that country. The demand for home currency will increase with reference to foreign currency.

• Inflation rates

If there is great inflation in a country than there will be high cost of goods, if goods are high cost, the exporter is not able to sell the goods in the foreign market. This will make deficit of foreign currency in the market.

• Interest rates

If government has amended the interest rate, there will be inflow and out flow of foreign investment. If interest rate are high there will be less inflow of foreign currency.

• Economic strength

If economy is well sound and consumption power is good, per capita income is good, this means there is a good inflow of foreign market.

• Market factor

Due to market demand and supply, the foreign exchange fluctuates the prices or value of currency.

• Political factor

If a country is stable politically, there will be more foreign exchange in the country and vice versa.