How to read a currency pair

Currencies are always quoted in pairs, because you are always buying one and selling another. In EUR/USD 1.1250, the euro is the base currency and the US dollar is the quote currency. The price tells you how many units of the quote currency one unit of the base currency buys: one euro costs 1.1250 dollars.

Rising and falling

If EUR/USD rises to 1.1300, the euro has strengthened against the dollar, or the dollar has weakened against the euro; both statements describe the same move. Buying a pair is a bet that the base currency will strengthen against the quote currency. Selling is the opposite.

Majors, crosses and exotics

Majors pair the US dollar with another heavily traded currency: EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, AUD/USD, USD/CAD and NZD/USD.
Crosses are pairs without the dollar, such as EUR/GBP or GBP/JPY.
Exotics pair a major currency with an emerging-market one, such as USD/MXN or USD/ZAR. They usually cost more to trade and can move sharply.

Bid, ask and mid

A dealer quotes two prices: the bid, where you can sell, and the slightly higher ask, where you can buy. The gap between them is the spread, the dealer’s main fee. The rates on this site are mid-market reference rates, halfway between bid and ask, so a real trade will always be a little worse.

Try it

Open any currency pair page to see the latest rate, how it has moved over the year and what drives each side of the pair.