A basic look at currency groups in Forex Markets

Currencies are grouped according to their responsiveness to news. We have safe haven currencies that the market run to for refuge when there is panic and fear in the market caused Geo-political events (see post of the impact of news releases on Forex markets). There are three safe haven currencies, which are USD, JPY and CHF.

Risky currencies are the opposite of safe haven currencies. These currencies tumble in the wake of adverse geo-political events. They include, but not limited to the following: GBP, NZD, CAD, AUD, and EUR.

We also have a special group of currencies known as commodity currencies. These include the AUD, NZD, CAD, and the ZAR. They lend their name of the fact that their economies are heavily dependent on the mining of minerals and commodities like gold and base metals (Australia and South Africa), and the extraction of oil (Canada).