What is an Exchange Rate?

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Welcome to the Investors Trading Academy talking glossary of financial terms and events.
Our word of the day is “Exchange Rate”.

Exchange rate is the value at which one currency may be converted into another. The exchange rate is used when simply converting one currency to another such as for the purposes of travel to another country, or for engaging in speculation or trading in the foreign exchange market. There are a wide variety of factors which influence the exchange rate, such as interest rates, inflation, and the state of politics and the economy in each country.
In finance, an exchange rate also known as a foreign-exchange rate, forex rate, FX rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency.
For example, an interbank exchange rate of 91 Japanese yen to the United States dollar means that 91 yen will be exchanged for each US dollar or that one US dollar will be exchanged for each 91 yen.
Exchange rates are determined in the foreign exchange market, which is open to a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers where currency trading is continuous: 24 hours a day except weekends.
The spot exchange rate refers to the current exchange rate. The forward exchange rate refers to an exchange rate that is quoted and traded today but for delivery and payment on a specific future date. In the retail currency exchange market, a different buying rate and selling rate will be quoted by money dealers.
Most trades are to or from the local currency. The buying rate is the rate at which money dealers will buy foreign currency, and the selling rate is the rate at which they will sell the currency. The quoted rates will incorporate an allowance for a dealer's margin (or profit) in trading, or else the margin may be recovered in the form of a "commission" or in some other way.

By Barry Norman, Investors Trading Academy