What currency pairs to trade in Forex for beginner traders?

I heard that and I can see there is lots of currency pairs offered to Forex traders, but as a beginner trader which currency pairs should I start with? I think I can start with EUR/USD, but confused. Also I think I need to clear the idea of currency pairs thoroughly. Any advice will be appreciable. Thanks in advance.

Yes, this is true that there are lots of currency pairs used in forex trading. Because ultimately it is a business of foreign currency exchange. Before using the currency pairs you need to understand what is currency pair? In forex trading currencies are quoted as pairs. Because one currency is bought, sold or exchanged against another countries currency. Though there are lots of currency pair my suggestion is as a newbie you should start with a major currency pair and you choice is good enough for starting.

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Hi @Estaben

@Ethan_Jeremiah makes several good points. EUR/USD is the most traded currency pair in the world, so there is lots of analysis available for it both technical and fundamental. Minor currency pairs would get less coverage by comparison.

Depending on where you live though, you may prefer to start by focusing on another currency pair. For example, if you live in Canada, you may want to trade USD/CAD. If you live in Australia, you may prefer to focus on AUD/USD instead.

The time of day you trade may also be a factor. For example, short term traders tend to like the volatility caused by economic data releases. If that is you, then you may want to focus on the Euro if you trade the European session, or the Japanese yen if you trade the Asian session.

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@Ethan_Jeremiah and @FOREX.com both of you guys, thanks a lot. I really appreciate your helps. I now understand clearly. Though I am afraid of whats gonna happen!!! Could I make it or not. But I will try my best. Before putting a trade on platform my heartbeat increase. It feels I am in racing car and anytime happen accident.

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Yes, this is the good point you represent here. @Estaben I totally agreed with @Ethan_Jeremiah and @FOREX.com. I wish you very good luck and do not be afraid be confident. And do not give up, you can make it.

It’s our pleasure to help @Estaben

If you feel fear, it could suggest you’re risking too much money either per trade or overall.

  1. Make sure you are only trading with risk capital.
  2. Consider risking only 1% per trade as @LaughingCharlie mentioned in an earlier discussion.

Contrary to popular belief, trading shouldn’t be all that exciting if done properly. :eyeglasses:

At 5 pm EST i want to be ready to trade. what to trade? can “marketmilk” help to chose pair to trade for that day? If yes how?
trading 24h, totally no preference to any currency pair. Based on coming news, correlations, technical analyses etc which pair or max 2 pairs to trade that day? it doesn’t matter is it to buy or sell. which pair(s) are expected to have high volatility, most pips to move regardless of direction…

is there website which suggest what to trade ? anyone to help on this subject?

well, the most important is to know to trade whatever that means to someone …if not then 2% or 1 % or 0.5% delay losing all money…

if based on geography then what to trade if I live in USA?

those in know or know how for example only will chose AUDUSD to trade that day instead NZDCAD.
Why? I do not know but i would like to know how to chose currency pair to trade that trading day.

I think that trading the EURUSD pair is suitable for beginners. Firstly, this pair is not very volatile and it is possible to set small stop losses. Secondly, many brokers have minimal spreads for such a currency pair, which is very profitable.

Yes, EUR/USD is not highly volatile and as the most heavily traded pair has the narrowest spreads on average.

Most traders would do better if they tracked the low volatility pairs. Over the long-term the least volatile are -
AUD/CAD (Australasian)
AUD/NZD (Australasian)
EUR/CAD
EUR/CHF (Major)
EUR/GBP (Major
NZD/CAD (Australasian)
USD/CAD (Major)

In this list the Australasians have the highest average spreads, the Majors have the lowest.

You can also compare volatility between pairs and confirm recent volatility by calculating the price dfifference between highest and lowest closes in e.g. the last 1 month. This might be surprising - it shows that EUR/GBP moved only 0.6%, while NZD/CAD moved 2.8% - more than 4 times as much!

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Pick a major pair that is volatile when you are available to trade

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But we are talking about beginners. And for them, trading with high volatility will be very dangerous. I think it is better to start with currency pairs with low volatility and when they are well trained to trade them, then you can try to move on to a more complex stage of trading pairs with higher volatility. This will be justified and the trader will already have experience and practice.

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True, but what if they start trading something with volatility that is too low. Like maybe an exotic pair

Exotic pairs can be extremely volatile, because they’re so illiquid. This is what they should be avoiding.

They should pick a major pair that’s less volatile

Exactly. And especially beginners! :slight_smile:

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Wait
I thought Volatile = Liquid

damn

If you think about it, illiquidity can itself cause volatility: market order trades will clearly cause larger price-movements when there’s less available on the DoM, won’t they? :wink:

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Oh no. Just not an exotic pair. exotic pair has high spreads. Let me give you a simple example, I traded with several brokers, the last ones are fxopen and fxpro, and they all have the main trading pairs with low spreads: EUR/USD and USD/CHF, their volatility is average, these are the most popular pairs, there are many liquidity providers and spreads - low, a lot of information on currencies, even analytics in blogs. You can choose one of them and study, create a strategy, trade

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EUR/USD is quite popular and not without a reason, but consider pairs with CHF as well, they have relatively better predictability in comparison to pairs like the one you just mentioned.

Have you found liquidity to be any kind of problem? I have never had that issue in forex, but I have had problems caused by taking positions in crazily volatile pairs.

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