FXCM announced today the introduction of foreign exchange baskets to its retail customers.

A foreign exchange or forex basket is comprised of a mix of several currencies, each initially starting with the same equivalent value. It allows traders to buy or sell a base currency, e.g. USD, against a basket of multiple currencies. The value of the basket will be determined by how the base currency performs vs the other currencies in the basket, since the time of the basket’s inception.

FXCM customers in all global regions, including the UK, Australia and South Africa, will initially be able to trade three different baskets: The Dollar Index Basket, The Yen Index Basket and The Emerging Markets Index Basket.

The Dollar Index basket reflects the change in value of the US dollar and is measured against a basket of major, highly-liquid currencies: the British pound (GBP), Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY) and Australian dollar (AUD).

The Yen Index acts a Japanese benchmark and is designed to reflect the change in value of the Japanese yen against the Australian dollar (AUD) British pound (GBP), Euro (EUR) and Canadian dollar (CAD).

The Emerging Markets Index is designed to reflect the value of the USD against the Chinese Renminbi (CNY), Mexican Peso (MXN), Turkish Lira (TRY) and South African Rand (ZAR).

Brendan Callan, CEO of FXCM, commented: “Our customers typically trade different currencies at the same time to broaden their portfolio, diversify risk or hedge an existing position. Trading a basket of currencies offers them an efficient way to trade against multiple currencies. This reduces the risk of exposure or adverse movements in a single currency and lowers trade costs.”