USD Trade-Weighted Index (DTWEXBGS, Broad Goods + Services)
The Federal Reserve's broad trade-weighted USD index (DTWEXBGS) from January 2006 to the latest reading (121.38 on 2 October 2026). Tracks the USD's value against a weighted basket of major trading partners' currencies including AUD, EUR, JPY, CNY, GBP, CAD, MXN and others. This is the Fed's preferred USD index for policy analysis, more comprehensive than DXY (which is heavily EUR-weighted). The DXY proxy AU traders care about; movements translate directly into AUD/USD pressure.
Chart
Daily trade-weighted broad USD index from January 2006. Base Jan 2006 = 100. Higher = stronger USD = weaker AUD/USD pressure. Recessions shaded.
What is the broad USD index?
The Federal Reserve's DTWEXBGS is a daily geometric average of the USD's bilateral exchange rates against 26 currencies, weighted by goods + services trade flows. The series is normalised to January 2006 = 100. A reading of 120 would mean the USD is 20 percent stronger than its January 2006 value against the trade-weighted basket.
The 26-currency basket captures the actual external value of the USD against the countries the US trades with. The biggest weights are the euro, the Mexican peso, the Canadian dollar and the Chinese yuan, each in the teens; the yen, pound, won, rupee and Australian dollar carry single-digit weights, alongside the other currencies in the basket. The Fed publishes the current weights with its H.10 release.
DXY vs DTWEXBGS comparison
| Attribute | DXY | DTWEXBGS |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | ICE | Federal Reserve |
| Currency count | 6 | 26 |
| Weights updated | Once (1999, euro launch) | Annually |
| EUR weight | 57.6% | Teens |
| CNY weight | 0% | Teens |
| AUD included | No | Yes (small weight) |
| Futures-tradable | Yes | No |
| Fed-preferred | No | Yes |
| Use case | Forex futures, ICE-tradable | Macro / policy analysis |
Trader takeaway
- AUD/USD inverse correlation. The broad USD index and AUD/USD are strongly inversely related over multi-year windows. When broad USD rises, AUD/USD usually falls. Size AUD/USD positions with awareness of the USD trend.
- Commodity-currency channel. AUD is part of the broad index and a 'commodity currency'. When commodity prices fall, AUD weakens and the broad USD strengthens (because the AUD component contributes downward weight to the basket value).
- Risk-off USD bid. Stress events strengthen USD via safe-haven flows. This is asymmetric: small risk-off moves can produce outsized USD gains. AUD/USD shorts are an effective indirect hedge for a long-AUD risk-asset portfolio.
- Bitcoin negative correlation. BTC and broad USD have often moved in opposite directions since 2017. Strong USD = weak BTC, weak USD = strong BTC, as a tendency rather than a rule. The weak-dollar stretch from March 2020 to mid-2021 coincided with BTC's biggest bull run.
Methodology
- Source. FRED series DTWEXBGS (Trade-Weighted Broad USD Index, Goods + Services).
- Endpoint. Public fredgraph.csv.
- Base. January 2006 = 100.
- Recession shading. NBER-dated US recessions (2007-09, 2020).
- Refresh cadence. An automated cloud refresh pulls the series from FRED twice a day (07:30 and 13:30 Sydney time) and the site rebuilds when the data changes. If FRED is unreachable, the last good data is kept.
Related tools
- Fed Funds Rate - the policy variable driving USD strength.
- 10Y Treasury Yield - the rate-differential input.
- VIX - the risk-off-bid variable.
- AUD/USD Hedging Cost Calculator - the AU-side hedge sizing tool.
- M2 Money Supply - the liquidity counterweight; M2 expansion is mildly USD-bearish.
Frequently asked questions
The Federal Reserve's Trade-Weighted Broad Dollar Index (DTWEXBGS) is a daily index of the USD's exchange-rate value against a basket of 26 currencies of major US trading partners, weighted by goods + services trade flows. The base is January 2006 = 100. Higher = stronger USD; lower = weaker USD. This is the Fed's preferred USD measure for policy and research because it captures the USD's external value against the actual trading partners that matter.
DXY (US Dollar Index, ICE-traded futures) is a fixed-weight index against six currencies (EUR 57.6%, JPY 13.6%, GBP 11.9%, CAD 9.1%, SEK 4.2%, CHF 3.6%). It dates from 1973 and its weights have changed only once, in 1999, when the euro replaced its predecessor currencies. DTWEXBGS uses 26 currencies (including AUD, CNY, MXN, KRW, INR, BRL, and others) with trade-share weights updated annually. For analysing the USD against the global economy, DTWEXBGS is far more representative. For pure forex traders, DXY remains the standard futures-tradable benchmark.
The AUD is in the DTWEXBGS basket with a small weight, and a stronger broad USD typically means a weaker AUD/USD. More importantly: the broad USD reflects US monetary tightness, global risk-off positioning, and structural USD demand. All three are negative for AUD/USD. The 2022 broad-USD spike (from about 115 in January to 128.45 in late September) coincided with AUD/USD falling from about 0.76 in April to 0.62 in October (daily closes). The USD softening since the January 2025 peak has been one of the tailwinds behind AUD/USD's recovery from its 0.5955 close in April 2025 to 0.6958 on 8 October 2026.
Three primary drivers. (1) US interest-rate differential: when US rates rise faster than other developed-economy rates, the USD strengthens. (2) Risk-off sentiment: USD is the global safe-haven currency, so stress events (banking crises, geopolitical shocks) typically strengthen USD even when US-specific risks are part of the problem. (3) Trade and capital flows: persistent US current-account deficits would normally weaken the USD; the offsetting capital-account surplus (foreign demand for US Treasuries and equities) keeps the dollar elevated.
The data does not support it. DTWEXBGS was 121.38 on 2 October 2026, about 21 percent above its January 2006 base of 100. The 13 January 2025 reading of 130.04 is the high of the series. Talk of 'USD collapse' has been a recurring theme for 50 years; the trade-weighted dollar has traded between about 103 and 130 since 2015. The dollar's reserve-currency status rests on US capital-market depth, the legal regime, and the lack of a viable alternative.
FRED series DTWEXBGS sources the Federal Reserve H.10 statistical release. The series begins 2 January 2006 and the chart shows the full history. Daily values, base January 2006 = 100. An automated refresh pulls it from FRED twice a day (07:30 and 13:30 Sydney time) and the site rebuilds when the data changes; if FRED is unreachable, the last good data is kept. The series replaced earlier 'major currencies' and 'broad' dollar indices in 2019 with an updated methodology and is the current Fed standard.
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