FAQ

Which exchange rates do you cover?

The service covers 41 currency pairs as well as their "flips", or inverses, for a total of 82 items. Please click here for a table outlining the coverage.

How much does it cost?

An annual subscription costs $135 US Dollars or $198 Australian Dollars. 6-month subscriptions are also available. You are supplied with 6 months of historical data for free, or you can choose to purchase historical data back to 1991. Please view our interactive pricing page, where you can calculate the price of the various FX subscription options using any one of a selection of international currencies.

If I subscribe, can I cancel my subscription at any time?

No. Subscriptions are not refundable in the event that the service is no longer required. Please make sure that the service is likely to meet your needs before choosing to subscribe (you can trial the service for free for 3 weeks).

Do you provide intra-day data or only end-of-day?

Only end-of-day.

What time is the data updated?

The data is updated at 22:00 GMT. This corresponds to 5:00 p.m. US Eastern Standard Time and 6:00 p.m. US Eastern Daylight Savings Time. In Australia, this is 8:00 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time and 9:00 a.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time.

The forex market trades round-the-clock. What do you base your daily close on? What is the following day's open based on?

The close is derived from prices prevailing at 21:15 GMT which, by convention, marks the end of the forex day. The following trading day's open price is determined by the first trade that occurs after 21:15:00 GMT.

Shouldn't it be 5:00 pm NY time?

Not particularly. There is no definitive FX "day". The use of GMT rather than NY time provides a constant FX day for the entire year - one that is unaffected by local daylight saving time changes. This is the method employed by Reuters, who also use 21:15 GMT.

But my broker tells me that the "roll-over" for spot forex is 5:00 pm NY time?

That's a private arrangement between you and your broker. FX brokers can define their own "roll-over" or "closing" times to determine value dates. Most use 5:00 pm NY time, but some use 4:30 pm or even 4:00 pm.

However, there is no definitive "closing time" in the interbank market. Transaction dates depend on the location of the respondent bank (the one providing the quote). The date "belonging" to the respondent bank determines the transaction date and therefore the value date. Two deals done at exactly the same time in the interbank market could have different value dates.

Does the Forex market trade over the weekend?

No.

How clean is your data?

If you trial the service, you will be able to download 6 months of data history and check its integrity.

I am trialling your service, and there are discrepancies between your prices and prices I see on the internet. Why is this so?

There is no central exchange to regulate forex trading, so there are no "official" forex prices. Price reports tend to vary according to the nature of the source. Some reports rely on a single source while others are based on a "feed" built up from multiple contributors. Our data is multi-sourced. Price reports may also vary according to the time-frame used (see above).

How much data history do you provide?

Our historical data goes back to January 1, 1991 for all items excluding those that involve the Euro. Trading in the Euro began on January 4, 1999.

What format is the data held in?

You can choose to install the forex history in "MetaStock" format, "text" format or both. Having installed in both formats, you can choose to stop updating either format at a later stage. The "text" format database can be configured to suit your needs with various delimiter and date display options.

If I use your service, how can I view charts of the data?

Most leading charting packages will be able to read either "MetaStock" format data, "text" format data or both. Our free charting product "Premium Charts" is bundled in with a Forex subscription for the benefit of those users who have no charting software of their own.

* MetaStock™ is a registered trademark of Equis International, Inc.