Benefits of Currency Trading vs. Equity Trading Historically, smaller-scale, individual investors have had limited access to the FX market. Major banks, multinational corporations and other participants, trading in large transaction sizes and volumes, have dominated this market for decades. Increasingly, FX trading is winning favor as an alternative investment opportunity.
Equity trading is restricted to the operating hours of the various equity exchanges.
High liquidity and greater efficiency Trading volume in the currency markets can be 50-100 times larger than the New York Stock Exchange. Twenty-four hour, five day per week accessibility greatly increases the probability of finding dealers willing to buy or sell currencies at fair market price. Equities are more vulnerable to liquidity risks due to limited trading volumes and market accessibility. In the less liquid equity markets, large price movements may occur when individual transactions take place. This volatility can be profitably exploited by day-traders.