{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/what-are-major-minor-cross-exotic-forex-pairs\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/what-are-major-minor-cross-exotic-forex-pairs\/","headline":"What are the Major, Minor, Cross and Exotic Forex Pairs","name":"What are the Major, Minor, Cross and Exotic Forex Pairs","description":"What are the Major, Minor, Cross and Exotic Forex Pairs As we have previously looked at, unlike other markets, currencies are traded as pairs. There are many different currency pairs you can trade from the majors to the exotics.\u00a0 Each Forex pair falls under a different category and in this lesson we look at the […]","datePublished":"2019-07-23","dateModified":"2019-07-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/author\/jonfox\/#Person","name":"Johnathon Fox","url":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/author\/jonfox\/","identifier":1,"description":"Johnathon is a Forex and Futures trader with over ten years trading experience who also acts as a mentor and coach to thousands and has written for some of the biggest finance and trading sites in the world.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0b589a007c132efe23124c05a02b68524844c0089401129bd50bc12ee59d3a9?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d0b589a007c132efe23124c05a02b68524844c0089401129bd50bc12ee59d3a9?s=96&d=monsterid&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Forex School Online","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.forexschoolonline.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/FSO-Transparent-logo-gr.png","url":"https:\/\/www.forexschoolonline.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/FSO-Transparent-logo-gr.png","width":240,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MAJOR-PAIRS.png","url":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/MAJOR-PAIRS.png","height":510,"width":1082},"url":"https:\/\/forexschoolonline.com\/what-are-major-minor-cross-exotic-forex-pairs\/","about":["Beginner Trading Lessons"],"wordCount":576,"articleBody":"What are the Major, Minor, Cross and Exotic Forex PairsAs we have previously looked at, unlike other markets, currencies are traded as pairs.There are many different currency pairs you can trade from the majors to the exotics.\u00a0Each Forex pair falls under a different category and in this lesson we look at the different categories of Forex pairs and what the major differences are.\u00a0What are the Major Forex Pairs?\u00a0Different traders have different opinions on what exactly constitutes a \u2018major Forex pair\u2019.\u00a0Most agree that the four big pairs are included; EUR\/USD, USD\/JPY, GBP\/USD and USD\/CHF as well as what is known as the \u2018commodity currencies\u2019 against the US dollar that include the AUD\/USD, USD\/CAD and NZD\/USD.You will notice that all of these pairs include that USD. The reason that the majors are made up of the USD is because of how Forex was historically created and also the amount of trade the USD carries out.USD Forex pairs trade by far and away the most currency of any world currency.Because these pairs are the most heavily traded they will often have the lowest trading costs and smallest spreads.List of Forex Major PairsMajor Forex PairsHeaderEURUSDEURO V US DOLLARGBPUSDBRITISH POUND V US DOLLARUSDCHFUS DOLLAR V SWISS FRANCUSDJPYUS DOLLAR V JAPANESE YENUSDCADUS DOLLAR V CANADIAN DOLLARAUDUSDAUSSIE DOLLAR V US DOLLAR NZDUSDNZ DOLLAR V US DOLLAR Minor and Cross Forex PairsWhen referring to a \u2018minor pair\u2019, traders are normally referring to other non USD Forex pairs.This is very similar for cross pairs. Before there were cross pairs, trading pairs such as the EUR \/ GBP was not so easy. Currencies had to be swapped into USD and then converted into the new currency.Then currency cross pairs were created. This allowed traders to trade different cross pairs without the need to involve the USD. An example could be trading the GBP \/ JPY.Below is a List of Example Forex Cross and Minor PairsMINOR FOREX PAIRHeaderEURGBPEURO V BRITISH POUNDEURAUDEURO V AUSSIE DOLLARGBPCHFBRITISH POUND V SWISS FRANCAUDNZDAUSSIE DOLLAR V NZ DOLLARAUDCADAUSSIE DOLLAR V CANADIAN DOLLARAUDCHFAUSSIE DOLLAR V SWISS FRANCGBPAUDBRITISH POUND V AUSSIE DOLLARCROSS Forex PairsHeaderEURJPYEURO V JAPANESE YENCADJPYCANADIAN DOLLAR V JAPANESE YENGBPJPYBRITISH POUND V JAPANESE YENAUDJPYAUSSIE DOLLAR V JAPANESE YENCHFJPYSWISS FRANC V JAPANESE YENEURNZDEURO V NZ DOLLAR EURCADEURO V CANADIAN DOLLAR Exotic Forex PairsThese pairs are often known as the wild west of the Forex market.The \u2018exotic\u2019 Forex pairs are made up of smaller economies.\u00a0Because these economies are far smaller, the currencies are traded far less.Why does this matter to you? Because the exotic currency pairs will have the highest trading costs and commissions.Exotic currency pairs will also often have the most wild swings due to the thinner market liquidity compared to the major or minor pairs.Below is a list showing example exotic Forex pairs;EXOTIC Forex PairsHeaderNZDCHFNZ DOLLAR V SWISS FRANCCHFSGDSWISS FRANC V SINGAPORE DOLLARSEJKPYSWEDISH KRONA V JAPANESE YENSGDJPYSINGAPORE DOLLAR V JAPANESE YENEURCADEURO V CANADIAN DOLLAREURPLNEURO V Polish ZlotyGBPNOKBRITISH POUND V NORWAY KRONER "}