 in finance, an exchange rate (also known as a foreign-exchange rate, forex rate, fx rate or agio) between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. it is also regarded as the value of one countryâs currency in terms of another currency. for example, an interbank exchange rate of 91 japanese yen (jpy, Â¥) to the united states dollar (us$) means that Â¥91 will be exchanged for each us$1 or that us$1 will be exchanged for each Â¥91. exchange rates are determined in the foreign exchange market,the economist â guide to the financial markets (pdf) which is open to a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers where currency trading is continuous: 24 hours a day except weekends, i.e. trading from 20:15 gmt on sunday until 22:00 gmt friday. the spot exchange rate refers to the current exchange rate. the forward exchange rate refers to an exchange rate that is quoted and traded today but for delivery and payment on a specific future date. in the retail currency exchange market, a different buying rate and selling rate will be quoted by money dealers. most trades are to or from the local currency. the buying rate is the rate at which money dealers will buy foreign currency, and the selling rate is the rate at which they will sell the currency. the quoted rates will incorporate an allowance for a dealer's margin (or profit) in trading, or else the margin may be recovered in the form of a "commission" or in some other way. different rates may also be quoted for cash (usually notes only), a documentary form (such as traveler's cheques) or electronically (such as a debit card purchase). the higher rate on documentary transactions is due to the additional time and cost of clearing the document, while the cash is available for resale immediately. some dealers on the other hand prefer documentary transactions because of the security concerns with cash. ==retail exchange market== people may need to exchange currencies in a number of situations. for example, people intending to travel to another country may buy foreign currency in a bank in their home country, where they may buy foreign currency cash, traveler's cheques or a travel-card. from a local money changer they can only buy foreign cash. at th
Currency Economics_terminology Foreign_exchange_market International_economics International_trade Macroeconomics