Currency strength meter
A free currency strength meter for the eight major currencies, built on European Central Bank reference rates. It ranks the US dollar, euro, pound, yen, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand dollars and Swiss franc by relative strength over your chosen window, so you can see what is leading, what is lagging, and which pairs are trending hardest. No signup, all calculation happens in your browser.
Major currency strength
Relative strength of the eight major currencies, strongest first. Pick a window below. All calculation runs in your browser on European Central Bank reference rates.
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What is a currency strength meter?
When you look at a single pair like AUD/JPY, you cannot tell whether it is rising because the Australian dollar is strong, the yen is weak, or both. A currency strength meter solves that by isolating the individual currencies. It compares each of the eight majors against all the others and ranks them, so a glance tells you what is leading the market and what is lagging.
That matters because the cleanest trends appear when a strong currency is paired with a weak one. If the Australian dollar is broadly strong and the yen broadly weak, AUD/JPY is where the trend is clearest, and trading it with the trend is easier than picking a pair where both currencies are moving the same way and the pair just ranges. The meter above does this ranking for you and highlights the strongest-versus-weakest pairing automatically.
How to use it
There are three common ways traders use the ranking:
- Pick the trending pair. Pair the strongest currency with the weakest. That pairing has the largest divergence and usually the clearest trend, which suits trend-following entries in the direction of the move.
- Avoid the ranges. Pairing two strong currencies, or two weak ones, tends to produce choppy, directionless price action. The meter helps you skip those pairs.
- Confirm your own idea. If you already like a pair, check that the strength ranking agrees. A long position is better supported when your base currency is ranked strong and the quote currency weak than when the meter says the opposite.
Change the window (1 week to 6 months) to match your horizon. A swing trader cares about the 1-week and 1-month view; a position trader looks at 3 and 6 months. Strength is a filter and a confirmation, never a standalone signal, so combine it with your own analysis and strict risk management.
Trade the strongest pairs with an ASIC-regulated broker
Once the meter points you at a trending pair, you need an ASIC-regulated broker to trade it. Every major pair this tool ranks, including all the AUD crosses, is available at the leading Australian brokers. For active trend trading the two that stand out are Pepperstone on execution and platform choice, and Fusion Markets on cost.
For the full field and which broker suits your style, see the best forex brokers in Australia ranking, and size every trade with the position size calculator. CFD Service. Your capital is at risk.
How the strength is calculated
The meter is built on European Central Bank reference rates, served through the free Frankfurter API, with the US dollar as the base currency. The calculation is deliberately simple and transparent:
- For your selected window, it takes the rate today and the rate that many trading days ago for each currency against the US dollar.
- It converts those into each currency's percentage change measured in US dollars. The US dollar's change against itself is zero.
- It then subtracts the average percentage change across all eight currencies. This demeaning step is what turns raw moves-against-the-dollar into a relative strength score, and it lets the dollar be ranked alongside the others rather than always sitting at zero.
The result is a relative score: positive means the currency outperformed the basket over the window, negative means it underperformed. The currency at the top is the strongest, the one at the bottom is the weakest, and the gap between them is the pairing with the strongest trend. Because the data is daily ECB reference rates, the meter reflects daily closes and updates each business day.
What it does not tell you
A currency strength meter is a lens, not a crystal ball, and a few limitations are worth stating plainly.
- It is backward-looking. It measures the move that has already happened over the window. A strong currency can reverse, and chasing strength late in a move is a common mistake.
- It is not a signal. Strength tells you where the trend has been, not where to enter, where to place a stop, or how much to risk. Those are your decisions.
- It is daily, not intraday. Built on daily ECB rates, it suits swing and position trading. Intraday scalpers need a tick-based meter inside their platform.
- Trading is risky. Most retail CFD and forex accounts lose money. A strength meter improves pair selection; it does not change the odds of the underlying activity. Use strict risk management and only trade money you can afford to lose.
Frequently asked questions
A currency strength meter ranks the major currencies by how strongly each is moving relative to the others over a chosen period. Instead of looking at one pair at a time, it isolates the individual currencies, so you can see, for example, that the Australian dollar is broadly strong and the yen broadly weak, which tells you AUD/JPY is trending up. It is an analysis aid for spotting trends and confirming pair selection, not a buy or sell signal on its own.
This meter uses European Central Bank reference rates (via Frankfurter) with the US dollar as the base. For your selected window, it measures each currency's percentage change against the US dollar, then subtracts the average change across all eight currencies. That demeaning step converts moves-against-the-dollar into a relative strength score, so the dollar itself is ranked alongside the others rather than always sitting at zero. The currency with the highest score is the strongest; the lowest is the weakest.
The common approach is to pair a strong currency with a weak one. If the meter shows the Australian dollar strongest and the yen weakest, AUD/JPY is the pair with the clearest trend, and a trend-following trader would look for long entries there rather than fighting it. Traders also use it to avoid pairing two strong or two weak currencies, which tend to range. It is a filter and a confirmation tool, used alongside your own analysis and risk management, never as a standalone signal.
It is built on daily European Central Bank reference rates, which update each business day, so it reflects daily closes rather than tick-by-tick intraday movement. That suits swing and position traders looking at multi-day trends. For intraday scalping you would want a real-time tick-based meter inside a trading platform; this tool is designed for the daily-trend view, which is where most retail traders actually make decisions.
The eight majors: the US dollar (USD), euro (EUR), British pound (GBP), Japanese yen (JPY), Australian dollar (AUD), Canadian dollar (CAD), Swiss franc (CHF) and New Zealand dollar (NZD). These are the currencies behind the most-traded pairs, including all the AUD pairs Australian traders focus on. The strongest-versus-weakest pairing among these eight is highlighted automatically.
Any ASIC-regulated forex broker covers the major pairs this meter ranks. For active trend trading, Pepperstone leads on execution and platform choice, and Fusion Markets is the cheapest on commission, which matters if you trade frequently. The full breakdown is in the best forex brokers in Australia ranking. Whichever you choose, verify the AFSL on the ASIC Connect register before depositing.
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