Foreign Exchange: Work Term Project
Foreign Exchange: Work Term Project
Foreign Exchange: Work Term Project
By Ankit Bhatnagar
11D408
Objective
Includes :
Buying
Selling
Exchange Currencies
Participated by:
Larger International Banks and Financial Centers
From Wikipedia
Top 10 Market Participants
Market Participants
Commercial companies
Central banks
Foreign exchange fixing
Hedge funds as speculators
Investment management firms
Retail foreign exchange traders
Non-bank foreign exchange companies
Money transfer/remittance companies and
bureaux de change
Most Traded Currencies By Value
Main Trading Hub
London
New York City
Tokyo
Hong Kong
Singapore
Most Heavily Traded Bilateral Currencypairs
EURUSD: 24.1%
USDJPY: 18.3%
GBPUSD : 8.8%
Determinants of Exchange Rates
Economic factors
Political conditions
Market psychology
Financial Instruments
Spot
Spot market is where currencies are bought and sold according to the
current price. That price, determined by supply and demand, is a
reflection of many things, including current interest rates, economic
performance, sentiment towards ongoing political situations (both
locally and internationally), as well as the perception of the future
performance of one currency against another. When a deal is finalized,
this is known as a "spot deal". It is a bilateral transaction by which one
party delivers an agreed-upon currency amount to the counter party
and receives a specified amount of another currency at the agreed-upon
exchange rate value. After a position is closed, the settlement is in cash.
Financial Instruments
Forward
One way to deal with the foreign exchange risk is to engage in a forward
transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands
until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an
exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on
that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of
the trade can be one day, a few days, months or years. Usually the date
is decided by both parties. Then the forward contract is negotiated and
agreed upon by both parties.
Financial Instruments
Forward
One way to deal with the foreign exchange risk is to engage in a forward
transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands
until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an
exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on
that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of
the trade can be one day, a few days, months or years. Usually the date
is decided by both parties. Then the forward contract is negotiated and
agreed upon by both parties.
Financial Instruments
Futures
Futures are standardized forward contracts and are usually traded on
an exchange created for this purpose. The average contract length is
roughly 3 months. Futures contracts are usually inclusive of any
interest amounts. Currency futures contracts are contracts specifying a
standard volume of a particular currency to be exchanged on a specific
settlement date. Thus the currency futures contracts are similar to
forward contracts in terms of their obligation, but differ from forward
contracts in the way they are traded. They are commonly used by MNCs
to hedge their currency positions. In addition they are traded by
speculators who hope to capitalize on their expectations of exchange
rate movements.
Financial Instruments
Option
A foreign exchange option (commonly shortened to just FX option) is a
derivative where the owner has the right but not the obligation to
exchange money denominated in one currency into another currency at
a pre-agreed exchange rate on a specified date. The FX options market
is the deepest, largest and most liquid market for options of any kind in
the world.
Financial Instruments
Read A Quote
USD/JPY = 119.50