A country's currency is limited to its borders. Companies exchange their local currency for foreign currency to facilitate international trade. Currency behaves like a commodity, influenced by supply, demand, and central bank actions.
Precious metals like gold, silver, palladium, and platinum require close market monitoring for investment. Trading these metals, such as gold and silver, through Forex markets allows for instant or long-term investments.
Commodity markets impact economies historically and now, with origins in ancient trade routes like the Silk and Spice roads. They supply raw materials for production and their prices fluctuate due to political, economic, and seasonal factors. These price movements can be seen as investment opportunities offering high gains in short periods, but they're also high-risk due to volatility. Commodities include energy, metals, livestock, and agricultural goods like corn, soybean, wheat, rice, cocoa, coffee, cotton, and sugar.
Gold, which is a precious metal, is used as an investment tool because it is indexed to the dollar and is scarce. It is the asset class preferred by many investors today. Gold is one of the most important investment instruments in financial markets. Investors often buy gold to benefit from changes in gold prices.
Like gold, silver is also an investment instrument. Since silver has a wide range of uses, its demand by investors is constantly increasing. It is used in many industries around the world. For example, electronic devices, solar panels, mirrors, photography, medical devices, food processing equipment and many more.
Energy commodities consist of mined fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. They are also affected by global growth and contraction and react instantaneously to developments. Energy prices are closely monitored as a measure of global risk appetite, global growth and regional risks. With Brent oil, crude oil and natural gasbeing a powerful hedge against inflation, energy commodities have become the preferred commodities in Forex markets.
Petroleum is one of the most important fuel sources used worldwide. It is mainly used to meet the fuel needs of land vehicles and industrial machinery.
Natural gas, or NATGAS, is one of the most common fossil fuels used worldwide. It is a colorless, odorless and flammable gas. Natural gas is mostly found in natural gas deposits or oil deposits.
