What is Forex Analysis? – Works, Examples, Types, and More

What is Forex Analysis?

Forex analysis is the practice of examining changes in the prices of currency pairs and the forces that influence those price changes. It is used by forex traders who buy and sell currencies to make a profit.

Fundamental and technical analysis methods are used in forex trading, and many traders use a hybrid approach that combines both techniques.

How does Forex Analysis Works?

• The forex market is the largest globally, with trillions of dollars changing hands every day. Retail traders and finance companies regularly engage in currency analysis to profit from this large and important market.
• Today, the forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week, and most of the activity is concentrated in global shopping centres such as London, New York and Tokyo.
• Unlike the stock market, in which investors can buy shares in individual companies, currencies traded on the forex market are always sold in pairs.
• When one of the currencies of a pair is bought, this necessarily means that the team’s other money is sold. Some of the world’s most traded currency pairs include USD / CAD, EUR / USD, and EUR / JPY.
• Currency analysis is the practice of determining which currency within a pair is likely to be the strongest over a given time.
• Forex traders can use this knowledge to buy the currency they expect to increase or sell the currency.
• To help make these predictions, forex traders will study a variety of sources. These include fundamental factors such as the state of nations’ economies, the price of relevant commodities such as oil, or any major news event affecting the international economy.
• Technical factors such as the currency’s recent price history relative to its historical averages are also considered.

Examples of Forex Analysis

• To illustrate, consider the case of the USD / CAD currency pair, which is one of the most traded pairs in the world.
• Canada and the United States are close trading partners, which means that a large amount of foreign exchange is produced between them for reasons such as cross-border trade, travel and investment.
• Forex traders using fundamental analysis can consider factors such as interest and inflation outlook for both currencies when looking at this currency pair.
• They will also look at employment factors, which can provide insight into future interest rate trends.
• A strong economy will tend to drive up interest rates, attracting more investors to that currency. And to that market to benefit from higher interest rates.
• Because the loonie tends to move with the oil price, traders can also consider expectations about oil prices’ future direction.
• Meanwhile, technical analysts can look for trends and ranges within the USD / CAD price history. A movement will provide the general direction in which the currency pair moves. While ranges can indicate areas of support or resistance in which the price is approaching.
• They can also use technical indicators in an attempt to find a rhythm or pattern in price movements.
• By charting these patterns, analysts can anticipate how the price will move within the practice and predict when it will break out of its historical range.

Also Read: What Is a Balance Sheet? – Formula Used, Company, and More

Types of Forex Analysis

1. Fundamental

• Forex fundamentals centre mostly around the currency’s interest rate. This is since interest rates have a sizeable effect on the forex market.
• Other fundamental factors are included, such as gross domestic product, inflation, manufacturing, economic growth activity.
• However, whether those other fundamental releases are good or bad is less important than how those releases affect that country’s interest rate.
• Traders reviewing the fundamental releases should keep in mind how they might affect interest rates’ future movement.
• When investors are in a risk-seeking mode, money follows yield (currencies that offer a higher interest rate), and higher rates could mean more investment.
• When investors are in a risk-averse mentality, then money leaves yield for safe-haven currencies.
• The DailyFX website offers a lot of assistance in identifying how an entire release could affect the currency’s value. Check out the economic calendar for events coming up this week.

2. Technical

• Forex technical analysis involves looking at price history patterns to determine the higher probability time. And place to enter a trade and exit a trade.
• As a result, technical analysis in forex is one of the most widely used types of research.
• FX is one of the largest and most liquid markets. The movements on a chart from the price action generally gives clues about hidden levels of supply and demand.
• Other patterned behaviour, such as which currencies are trending the strongest, can be obtained by reviewing the price chart.
• An example of this can see in the GBP/USD chart, where the US dollar is strengthening against the Pound Sterling.
• Other technical studies can conduct through the use of indicators.
• Many traders prefer using indicators because the signals are easy to read, making forex trading simpler.
• Technical versus fundamental analysis in forex a wide debate topic.
• There is no right answer to which type of analysis is better, and traders tend to adopt one, or a combination of the two, in their research.

3. Sentiment

• Forex sentiment is another widely popular form of analysis. When you see sentiment overwhelmingly positioned in one direction. This means the vast majority of traders already commit to that position.
• Perhaps this can better explain with an example. Let’s assume that an overwhelming number of traders and investors are bullish on the Euro.
• They think the Euro is going higher. Since people vote with their trades, we can assess through DailyFX (which uses IG Client Sentiment). The EUR/USD sentiment shows most traders are buyers in the currency pair.
• Since we know a large pool of traders already has BOUGHT, these buyers become a future supply of sellers. We know that because eventually, they are going to want to close out the trade.
• That makes the EUR to USD vulnerable to a sharp pullback if these buyers turn around and sell to close their trades.
• More astute traders will analyze retail sentiment alongside sentiment at the institutional level.
• Senior Analyst at DailyFX, Tyler Yell, explains how traders can examine the Commitment of Traders (CoT) report to explain how the institutional market position. And how to implement this analysis into their trading analysis.

Conclusion

Forex analysis is the study to determine whether to buy, sell or wait to trade a currency pair.

Currencies trade in pairs, with exchange rates based on one currency’s price relative to the other.

The main types of analysis include technical and fundamental, and many traders use both approaches.