I only trade the USD/JPY pair because I’m most familiar with it. In regards to Economic News I think it’s easier to keep track of USA and Japan Economic and Geopolitical News vs the entire Euro Zone if your doing EUR/USD.
I plan to stick to one major currency pair because trying to familiarize myself with more than one seems like it would take a lot more effort without any additional edge.
Why do some people trade more than one major currency pair?
The answer depends on you trading approach.
If you use more technical styles of analysis, i.e. charting rather than following news then you may decided to try it out on many currency pairs as apposed to a single pair. A chart is a chart, regardless of the underling asset which it’s tracking.
On the other hand, if you base more weight towards analysis by following news and macroeconomic aspects then you may want to start on a single currency pair. As you previously suggested it can take more time to learn what news plays more importance with different countries. However at the end of the day FX is all integrated, and what works on one pair should not have a great deal of variance when used on a different pair.
I spent a lot of time at first on one pair but then I was only scalping. I would ride the range with one pair, do 5 or 6 trades in one day and I found it much easier to do it with one pair. However if you start looking at them in groups I agree with Jezzode, in a lot of cases what works on one you can apply to another in the same group, not always but in a lot of the cases. I check different pairs as my approach now is leading to holding trades for a little longer. I don’t think there’s any magical number, I think again like jezzode says, depends on your approach
As the others have mentioned, there’s nothing wrong with focusing on one major currency pair, and it may actually be best if that’s all you have the time for and still give proper attention to all your trades. The main reason people trade multiple pairs is to have more trading opportunities. If you only trade one pair, there can be extended periods where the price action simply doesn’t suit your trade setups, and so you won’t enter a trade.
Personally, my trading progressed as follows. Initially, I only traded EUR/USD. Then I expanded to trade all 4 majors against the US dollar. Then I expanded to trading the commodity dollars against the US dollar. Now, I trade all the major crosses, but still don’t trade more exotic currencies like TRY or MXN.
For the first year, its best to focus on one pair as its much easier to follow and master. Then afterwards you can go ahead and include a few more.
Personally I started out with the GBP/USD and have been building on it since then
The most important thing is what you are comfortable with.
To begin with, focusing on a a single pair can give you the time to become comfortable, manage your system/method and get into a groove for trading.
I’m focusing purely on GBP/USD and I find it’s plenty to keep me interested.
It’s interesting you both started with GBP/USD. Was it the volatility that attracted you?
The reason I started with EUR/USD was because I figured they were the two biggest economies and how the most economic data releases.
Obviously the volatility was a huge factor, but its the currency that I used during my training days.
I don’t really know why I chose the Cable over any other pair, for liquidity I should have chosen the Euro but maybe it’s because I’m British that I went for Sterling.
Good advice Grix. I only focus on 04 pairs even after 03 years of trading. Cable is one of them 
I used to only trade EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and EUR/USD. Are those the same four that you trade?
Hi, I’m new to this community, I started trading 2yrs ago n I find concentrated on 1pair helps me feel more in control n know where this pair is going.
Same here mate except UJ.
There isn’t a standard number of currency pairs to monitor or trade. It all depends on your preference. However, I suggest that beginners focus on a few major pairs to learn their movements and patterns.
You can choose one to three pairs from these: EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, USDCHF, USDCAD, AUDUSD and NZDUSD. These are the “major” pairs because they are the most traded worldwide. Thus, they have a higher volatility that gives traders more opportunities.
You can monitor currency pairs at a frequency that you are comfortable with, depending on your trading style.
If you devote more time to study other currency pair, you might be interested in trading with them. Since others do it, you can too! And by the way, this is why we follow market trend.
Some people look for a certain setup and master that on one pair and then branch out to more than one time frame and then start to look for that setup on several pairs… comfort level is what is important.
Mastering one currency pair is always good, but for added diversification i trade in EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/JPY AND GBP/JPY only and i have three years of market experience.
I’m going to second what a lot of people in this thread have already said. Whether you focus on one currency pair really depends on your approach and your strategy.
That being said, I would recommend doing so for at least a little while. Even as a technical analyst you can benefit from understanding the regular patterns of a single pair over the course of your trading session.
I personally like like playing around with different currency pairs. I like buying fundamentally strong currencies against those that do not look bullish fundamentally. I do this especially for long-term trades.
Before you start to trade, recognize the value of proper preparation. The first step is to align your personal goals and temperament with the instruments and markets that you can comfortably relate to. For example, if you know something about retailing, then look to trade retail stocks rather than oil futures, about which you may know nothing. Begin by assessing the following three components.