This is how forex work.

• Forex trading is the simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another
• Two currencies make up what is known as a “currency pair”. For example the euro and the U.S. dollar (EUR/USD) or the British pound and the Japanese yen (GBP/JPY).
• Currencies are always traded in pairs – each currency is represented by three letters
• The first two letters represent the country and the third letter identifies the currency
• Forex pairs are read in the opposite direction of mathematical proportions or ratios

For example:
GBP/USD = 1.23450

The currency to the left of the slash (“/”) is called the base currency (in this example, the British Pound) and the currency on the right is called the quote currency (in this example, the U.S Dollar)

This notation means that 1 unit of the base currency (that is, 1 GBP) is equal to 1.23450 U.S Dollars

You have to pay 1.23450 U.S Dollars to buy 1 GBP

If selling, the foreign currency exchange rate specifies how much units of the quote currency you get for selling one unit of the base currency

In the above example, you will receive 1.23450 U.S Dollars when you sell 1 GBP.

The list below are the most liquid and widely traded currency pairs in the world and are called major pairs.

When to Buy?

A trader would open a buy position if they believe that the value of that specific base currency would increase.

When to Sell?

A trader would open a sell position if they believe that the value of that specific base currency would decrease.
  

Trading sessions according to GMT (Greenwich Mean Time):

Trading sessions according to EST (Eastern Standard Time):

Trading hours may vary with daylight savings time.