Understanding Forex Pips
In Forex trading, a Pip or Percentage In Point or Price Interest Point, is the smallest change in price of a given exchange rate. New traders to the market should have a thorough understanding of the concept as they will encounter this term all the time when doing currency trading.
Currency pairs are quoted accurately to the fourth decimal place because Forex transactions are mostly involves large sums, and Forex spreads are the exact opposite. This defines the smallest movement of a paired currency and is called a Pip. An example would be: if the USD/EUR moves from 1.2345 to 1.2346, then the Pip would be 1. If it changes from 1.2345 to 1.2305, the change in Pip would be 40 Pips. On the currency market, there are the 6 widely-traded called the majors that is made up of the following:
* EUR/USD, also called the ‘EURO” * GBP/USD, also called the “CABLE” * USD/CHF, also called the “SWISSIE” * USD/JPY, also called the “NINJA” * USD/CAD, also called the “LOONIE”, or “BEAVER” * AUD/USD, also called the “AUSSIE” *
The EUR/USD is the most traded major by an average of 100 Pips a day.
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Profits and losses in Forex use the Pip as an accurate means of measurement, but the Pip for a USD/JPY pair has a different value compared to the Pip for USD/CAD, as it is set to the 2nd decimal place since it’s value is smaller comparable to a cent/hundredth of other major currencies.
If you trade the currency pair of USD/JPY at 110.95 and moves to 111.0, it gained 5 Pips. With a quote of 77.48 that changed to 77.53 would mean a 5 Pip increase. If it were the USD/CAD pair while at 1.0234, then changes to 1.0224, 10 Pips would have been lost. Trading with the AUD/USD with an exchange quote of 1.9876, the Pip equivalent is .0001, as it set by market makers at 4 decimal places.
Basically, when you hear someone say, “30 Pips”, it denotes thirty units of value in trading. Individual currencies are not similarly quoted in terms of Pips, so it’s best to review all the currencies you encounter during your trading. Dealing with large sums might seem daunting at times, but will get easier gradually as you begin to get acquainted with Forex trading as time passes.
Many other currencies besides the Yen have a four decimal place – those mainly paired with the USD at .0001. If you just keep in mind that a Forex Pip is one unit of the furthest listed decimal place, and that each currency pair is assigned a different value, then you’ll be well on your way to becoming a future, successful trader.
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