Forex Exchange
Operation:
What is Forex Exchange?
Forex Exchange is used to denote Foreign Currency i.e.
Currency of any country as well as the exchange of currency of one country into
that of another.
Section 2 of Foreign Exchange Management Act-1999
defines the foreign exchange as:
1. All deposits, credits and balance payable in foreign
currency and any drafts, traveler’s cheque, letter of credit and bill of
exchange expressed or drawn in Indian currency and payable in foreign currency.
2.
Any instrument payable at the option of the drawee or
holder, thereof or any other party thereto, either in Indian currency or in
foreign currency, or partly in one and partly in other.
Foreign Exchange: $-USD, ¥-JPY €-Euro, £-Sterling,
AUD, CAD etc.
Forex Market:
Forex Market is communication-based market, with no
boundaries and operates round the clock.
It comprises a large spectrum of market participants, which include
individuals, business entities, commercial bank, investment bank, etc.
Features of forex market:
Ø A
24-hour market
Ø An
over-the-counter market (OTC)
Ø A
global market with no barriers/ no specific location.
Ø A
market that supports large capital and trade flows.
Ø Highly
liquid market
Ø High
fluctuation currency rates (every 4 seconds)
Ø Settlement
effected by time zone factor
Ø Market
effected by government policies & controls.
Exchange Rate:
The price or the ratio or the unit at
which one currency is exchanged for another currency:
1 USD= 72.49 INR
Two-way quotes or buy-sell. 1 USD= 72.49/51 INR.
Types of quoting exchange rate.
Sl No
|
Types of Rate
|
Trade
|
Contract date
|
Settlement Day
|
1
|
Today (Cash or Ready
|
Cash or ready or TOD basis
|
Today (T)
|
Same day
|
2
|
Tomorrow (TOM)
|
TOM Basis
|
Today (T)
|
Next
working day (T+1)
|
3
|
SPOT
|
SPOT Basis
|
Today (T)
|
Second
working day(T+2)
|
4
|
Forward
|
Forward Basis
|
Today (T)
|
Any day
after spot (>T+2)
|
In the forex market, all rates quoted are generally
SPOT Rates.
The volume, depth and volatility of the spot market is
higher due to large participation of market players in the spot trade.
Forward Rate- Forward Rates are derived from spot rate,
and are the function of sot rate, forward premium/discount of the currency
being quoted.
Forward Rate= Spot Rate+ Premium or Spot
Rate-Discount.
Note: (if you are buying, margin would be subtracted
or if purchasing margin would be added)
Direct & Indirect
quotes:
Direct Quotes: Under direct quote, local currency is
variable.
1 USD= 72.49
INR.
Indirect Quotes: under indirect quotes, the local
currency remain fixed.
Rs.100= 1.38 USD
Note: In case of GBP, Euro, AUD, and NZD, the currencies
are quoted as indirect rate.
1 GBP=1.38 USD
Bid and Offered
Rate:
The buying rate is referred as Bid Rate and selling
rate is referred as Offered Rate.
1 USD=72.49/51 INR
The quoting bank is bidding (buying) for USD at 72.49
and is offering ( selling) the USD at 72.51.
Cross Rate:
Where rate for a particular currency pair is not
directly available, the price for the said currency pair is then obtained
indirectly with the help of cross rate mechanism.
If,
USD/INR= 72.49/51 (1 USD= 72.49/51 INR)
GBP/USD=1.38/40(1 GBP=1.38/40 USD)
What is GBP/INR=?
GBP/USD*USD/INR=72.49*1.38=100.04
72.51*1.40=101.51
GBP/INR=100.04/51
Fixed Rate and
Floating Rate:
The fixed exchange rate is the official rate set by
the monetary authorities for one or more currencies. It is usually pegged to
one or more currencies. Under floating exchange rate, the value of the currency
is decided by supply and demand factors for a particular currency.
Per cent and Per
Mille.
A percentage is a proportion per hundred while per
mille means per thousand.
EUR/USD=1.1910/20
Value Date:
This is the term used to define the date on which
payment of funds or an entry to an account becomes actually effective and/or
subjected to interest.
Factors Determining Exchange Rate:
(a) Fundamental Reasons
Ø
Balance
of Payments-
Ø
Economic
Growth Rate
Ø
Fiscal
Policy
Ø
Monetary
Policy
Ø
Interest
Rates
Ø
Political
issues
(b) Technical Reasons
Ø
Capital
tends to move from lower yielding to higher yielding currencies, and results is
movement in exchange rate.
(c) Speculation
Ø
Speculative
deals provide depth & liquidity to the market and at times act as a cushion
too if the views do not lead to a contagious effect.