Best Investment Brokerage Platform for Forex 2024

Choose from MoneySmart's curated list of best brokerages to invest in Forex and Learn how to maximise returns. Read More
We found 14 Online Brokerages for you!
Oanda logo

Min. Funding

$0

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
EUR/USD and USD/JPY
From 0.6 pips*
Commission & Core Spreads
As low as 0.2 pips*
Min. Funding
$0

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$80 Cash via PayNow when you open, fund any amount in one single deposit and execute 1 trade with OANDA! T&Cs apply.

Valid until 31 Mar 2024 - See more details below
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Tiger Brokers logo

Min. Funding

$0

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
Low Commission Fees
Min. Commission Fee US Stocks
US$1.99
Min. Commission Fee SG Stocks
0.06% of Trade Value
Min. Funding
$0

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$140 Cash via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of USD1,000 / S$1,350 within one deposit with Tiger Brokers! T&Cs apply.
 
[Tiger Brokers Promotion]
New to Tiger Brokers? Enjoy up to 365 days of unlimited commission-free trades*,  8% interest bonus boost* and receive up to USD30 of Apple fractional shares and 1 sure-win draw attempt (get free fractional shares up to USD888*) T&Cs apply.

Valid until 22 Mar 2024 - See more details below
Promotion ends in
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Saxo logo

Min. Funding

S$3,000

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
EUR/USD
0.5 Min. spread
USD/SGD
0.9 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$3,000

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$200 Cash via PayNow when you open, fund a min. of S$3,000 in one single deposit and execute 1 trade within 14 days of account opening with Saxo! T&Cs apply.
    
International Women's Day Flash Deal | Exclusive Offer for Female Investors:
As a female investor, you'll receive a special bonus of S$38 Cash via PayNow on top of S$200 (Total S$238) Cash via PayNow reward!
   
[Saxo Promotion]
• Get a free upgrade to trade with our Platinum prices. Learn more
 Plus, get an additional S$750 when you refer a friend. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 31 Mar 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
Interactive Brokers logo

Min. Funding

$0

Min. Funding
Min. Commission Fee US Stocks
US$1
Min. Commission Fee SG Stocks
$2.50
Min. Funding
$0
Apply Now
IG logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
Online Promo
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Online Promo:
 [Welcome Rebate]

Receive up to S$150* in rebates when you open a new IG CFD account, fund and trade with IG. T&Cs apply.
Valid until 31 Mar 2024 - See more details below
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PhillipCapital logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
Online Promo
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Online Promo:
Trade to Huat: Get SGD88 Ang Pow when you trade Asian currency pairs and indices from 1 Feb 2024 to 31 Mar 2024. T&Cs apply.
Valid until 31 Mar 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
City Index logo

Min. Funding

S$150

Min. Funding
MoneySmart Exclusive
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.6 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$150

[MoneySmart Exclusive]
Get S$80 Cash via PayNow when you open, fund any amount in one single deposit and execute 1 New Buy trade with City Index! T&Cs apply.
 
[City Index Promotion]
Enjoy S$50 cash bonus and get up to $888 cash rebates from City Index exclusively on MoneySmart. T&Cs apply.

Valid until 31 Mar 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
PhillipCapital logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
Online Promo
EUR/USD
As low as 0.7 pips
USD/JPY
As low as 0.7 pips
Min. Funding
S$0
Online Promo:
[Trade gold for gold]

Unlock exclusive PAMP Gold Bars* when you open an account and trade APEX Gold Perpetual Futures before 29 March 2024. T&Cs apply. 
Valid until 29 Mar 2024 - See more details below
Apply Now
PhillipCapital logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.6 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
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CMC Markets logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.7 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.7 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
CSG-CIMB Securities logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.36 Min. spread
USD/JPY
0.41 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Apply Now
Plus500 logo

Min. Funding

S$200

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
0.01%
USD/JPY
0.01%
Min. Funding
S$200
Read More
UOB logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
1.8 Min. spread
USD/JPY
1.5 Min. spread
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More
OCBC logo

Min. Funding

S$0

Min. Funding
EUR/USD
5% Initial Margin
USD/JPY
5% Initial Margin
Min. Funding
S$0
Read More

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Forex trading guide for beginners

What is it?

Forex is short for foreign exchange and it is also known as FX and currency. Forex trading is buying and selling of currencies to make a profit by taking advantage of price movements between different currencies.

How does forex trading work?

People usually trade forex in currency pairs such USD/EUR. Take note that the base currency is the first currency symbol in the pair while the second is the quote currency. For USD/SGD, the base currency is USD while quote currency is SGD. Price of the base currency is calculated in units of the quote currency.

How are returns earned?

For example, you buy 1,000 units of USD. Assuming the exchange rate is SG$1.40 to US$1. So to buy 1,000 units of USD, this trade costs SG$1,400. A few days later, the SGD weakens against USD and the exchange rate becomes SG$1.55 to US$1. By selling the 1,000 units of USD you have, you would have made a profit of SG$0.15 x 1,000 = SG$150.

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Why invest in forex?

Liquidity

Forex market has the largest daily trade volume. Hence, in terms of liquidity, forex offers the highest liquidity. This allows forex traders to enter and exit any of their positions in the currencies easily and quickly in most situations.

24 hours

The forex market is traded 24 hours a day for five days a week. It starts the day in Australia and ends in New York. Major centers for forex trading are in Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London, Tokyo, Paris and New York.

Low transaction cost

As opposed to trading stocks where you have to pay both commission and the spread, forex trading requires you to cover only the spread. Hence, forex trading has lower transaction cost as compared to trading of stocks. The spread is the difference between the bid price (or selling price) and offer price (or buy price).

Top currency pairs traded

Currency pairBase currencyQuote currency
EUR/USDEuroUS dollar
USD/JPYUS dollarJapanese yen
GBP/USD British poundUS dollar
USD/CHF US dollarSwiss franc
AUD/USD Australian dollarUS dollar
USD/CAD US dollarCanadian dollar
NZD/USD US dollarNew Zealand dollar
GBP/EUR British poundeuro
EUR/CHF EuroSwiss franc
EUR/JPY EuroJapanese yen

Risks involved for forex investments

Leverage

When you borrow money from the broker to trade, this is called leverage. This allows you to trade with more than just your own capital. However, this is a huge risk as you are essentially betting that you will make more money from your forex trade to offset the amount you have borrowed from the broker. Leverage is often used by forex traders and in huge sums, which results in a high risk of making huge losses.

Zero sum game

While forex and stock trading are similar in terms of liquidity, they are not the same. Unlike the stock market, currency trading is a zero sum game. This means that for someone to gain, someone else has to lose. However, in the case of stocks, there can be a situation where there is overall gain.

High volatility

Stock markets are generally considered high risk. However, the fluctuations in the forex market are generally way more violent. Many big forex players make use of huge sums of leverage which allows them to move from a strong position to a weak position in a very short amount of time. Hence, it is highly not advisable for you to trade forex unless you can commit to long hours to frequently monitor the forex market. of the big forex players use enormous amounts of leverage.

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How to start investing in forex

Step 1

Choose your desired trading brokerage

Before you can officially start forex trading, you have to have an account with a brokerage that allows for forex trading. Only after you have created an account, you would then be able to execute forex trades on the platform provided by the brokerage.

Step 2

Stimulate your trade

When deciding what currencies you would like to trade in, it is ideal to have a forex trading plan. This plan will detail all the things you plan to do when you trade such as how you will conduct market analysis and steps to implement your trading strategy. It would be helpful to execute your plan on a demo account first.

Step 3

Execute the trade

After creating your forex trading plan and testing the plan out on a demo account, you are ready to make your trade if there are no issues. Do note that forex trading has high risks and it may not be for everyone. Do do your own research and ensure that you are able to uptake the risk before you start trading on forex.