Major pair

Major pairs, or simply majors, combine the US dollar with one of the other heavily traded currencies. The usual list is EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, USD/CHF, AUD/USD, USD/CAD and NZD/USD, with EUR/USD the most traded of all.

Majors tend to have the deepest liquidity, the most news coverage and smoother price action than less-traded pairs. That makes them a sensible first choice for learning: their levels are watched by many participants, and odd spikes are rarer during busy hours.

The flip side is their shared sensitivity to US data. A surprise in non-farm payrolls or a Federal Reserve decision can move every major at once, because the dollar sits on one side of all of them. Three trades on three majors in the same dollar direction are often one bet, not three separate ideas.

“Most liquid” doesn't mean “most predictable”: majors can drift sideways for hours or lurch on news like any other market. On Sky Trade, market forex pairs use real quotes while OTC versions are server-generated; see EUR/USD and the forex markets hub. For non-dollar pairs, see cross pair.