What Determines Base and Counter Positions?

[Clint]

I noticed that, e.g., in most EUR and USD pairings, the EUR is almost always the base, and the USD is almost always the counter. Why is that?

Hello, Vpip

This paragraph from a previous post will answer your question —

Check for accounts in GBP and calculating lot size

By international agreement, “normal” currency pairs are determined by the following [B]hierarchy:[/B]

EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, USD, CAD, CHF, JPY, … etc,

and on down through the list of minor and exotic currencies.

[U]Here’s how this hierarchy is applied:[/U]

• the EUR is the base currency in all EUR-pairs

• the GBP is the base currency in all GBP-pairs, except EUR/GBP

• the AUD is the base currency in all AUD-pairs, except EUR/AUD and GBP/AUD

• the NZD is the base currency in all NZD-pairs, except EUR/NZD, GBP/NZD and AUD/NZD

• the USD is the base currency in all USD-pairs, except EUR/USD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD and NZD/USD

…etc.

.