Education
What is Forex?
The Forex market is the world's largest financial market and is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. Trade forex whenever it suits you.
24 hour market
The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week.
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24 hour market
- Opens Sunday evening in New Zealand
- Closes Friday evening in New York
- Greatest liquidity during session overlaps
Transparency
In some exchange-based markets, larger players have at times been able to move the price of a stock or commodity to their advantage.
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Transparency
- Deep liquidity resists manipulation
- Fair pricing for every participant
- No single player can move the market
Trade both rising and falling markets
There are no restrictions on which direction you can trade in forex.
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Trade both rising and falling markets
- Go long to profit from rising prices
- Go short to profit from falling prices
- No restrictions on trade direction
Accessibility
The capital required to start trading forex is generally lower than for other financial markets, and multiple desktop and mobile platforms give you easy access to the market whenever you want to trade.
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Accessibility
- Lower capital requirement than other markets
- Desktop and mobile platform access
- Trade whenever it suits you
Leverage
Forex can be traded on leverage, meaning a smaller initial outlay is required to open a larger position.
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Leverage
- Control larger positions with less capital
- $1,000 at 1:100 leverage controls $100,000
- Losses are magnified just like profits
Volatility
The forex market's huge daily trading volume means there is always some volatility, which creates ongoing trading opportunities.
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Volatility
- High daily volume creates opportunities
- AUD/NZD suits beginner traders
- EUR/USD suits more advanced traders
Liquidity
Forex is the world's most liquid market, with roughly $5 trillion traded every day.
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Liquidity
- Roughly $5 trillion traded daily
- Convert large sums with minimal slippage
- The world's most liquid market
Disadvantages
Before trading any leveraged product, consider your own risk appetite and investment strategy carefully.
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Disadvantages
- Leverage magnifies losses as well as gains
- Losses can exceed your deposit
- Read our Risk Disclosure documentation
Low cost of trading
Transaction costs in forex are typically a fraction of what you'd pay trading shares — often less than a tenth of the cost per trade — which lowers the barrier to entry for traders working with smaller amounts of capital.
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Low cost of trading
- Lower transaction costs than shares
- Often under a tenth of stock trading costs
- A lower barrier to entry
Non-standardised contract sizes
Because forex trades over-the-counter rather than through a centralised exchange, position sizes aren't fixed the way they are for many stocks or futures contracts.
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Non-standardised contract sizes
- Trades over-the-counter, not on an exchange
- Position sizes from 0.01 to 200 lots
- Finer control over risk and sizing
Related
Ready to start trading?
Open a live account or practise first with a free demo.