Trading of currency pairs are conducted in the foreign exchange market, also known as the forex market. It is the largest and most liquid market in the financial world. This market allows for the buying, selling, exchanging and speculation of currencies. It also enables conversion of currencies for international trade and investment. The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days a week (except holidays), and sees a huge amount of trading volume.

All forex trades involve the simultaneous purchase of one currency and sale of another, but the currency pair itself can be thought of as a single unit an instrument that is bought or sold. If you buy a currency pair, you buy the base currency and implicitly sell the quoted currency. The bid (buy price) represents how much of the quote currency you need to get one unit of the base currency.

Conversely, when you sell the currency pair, you sell the base currency and receive the quote currency. The ask (sell price) for the currency pair represents how much you will get in the quote currency for selling one unit of base currency.

Unlike the stock or commodity market, you trade currencies, which means you’re selling one currency to buy another. For stocks and commodities, you’re using cash to buy an ounce of gold or one share of Apple stock. Economic data relating to currency pairs interest rates, gross domestic product (GDP) information, major economic announcements affect the prices of a trading pair.