Based on queries logged on a search engine Google, the Americans’ interest in Forex has significantly grown over the last year. Data acquired by Finbold.com shows that between May last year and May 2020, the interest has grown by about 132.55 percent, the highest since 2004.
According to our findings, interest in Forex hit the peak with a popularity score of 100 in May this year. During a similar period last year, the score stood at 43. The spike in searches related to Forex was notable from January this year. Between January and May 2020, the interest significantly grew by 72.41% during the first five months of this year. January and February recorded a popularity score of 56 and 57 respectively before rising to 74 in March, and 88 by April.
Between May and December last year, the popularity score remained relatively consistent with an average of 52. From 2004, another notable spike was recorded in October 2008 when the search popularity score was 89. A month later the search experienced a slight drop of 13% before gradually rising again to 88 in February 2009. From this peak, the American interest in Forex dropped gradually to hit the low of 2013 before rising again. In general, the popularity score of the term Forex fluctuated before the latest spike in 2020. he search was at its all-time lowest in December 2013 with a popularity score of 27.
Picks for you
Google search popularity scores represent search interest relative to the highest point for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. A score of 0 means there was not enough data for this term.
Florida records highest Forex search volume
We have also overviewed states that had the highest volume of Forex searches in the US. During the period under review, Florida occupied the top spot with a popularity score of 100, followed by New York at 90 with Hawaii coming third at 83. New Jersey occupies the fourth spot with a score of 82 while Nevada closes the fifth place with a popularity score of 81.
In the sixth spot, there is Georgia with a popularity score of 76, followed by Virginia at 74 while Utah occupies the eight spot with Google search popularity score of 72. On the other hand, Texas comes ninth with a score of 71 popularity while California closes the tenth spot with a Google search popularity score of 69.
Forex refers to the portmanteau of foreign currency and exchange. Foreign exchange is the process of changing currency for a variety of reasons, usually for commerce, trading, or tourism. Through foreign exchange participants can buy, sell, exchange, and speculate on currencies. Notably, the Forex market is a 24-hour cash market where currency pairs are traded. Since currencies are traded in pairs, investors essentially bet that one currency will go up and the other will go down. Forex trading is appealing since one can do it from the comfort of their home via the internet.
Coronavirus impact on Forex market
The spike in Forex searches correlated with a period when the coronavirus cases increased in the US. During this period, the economy was impacted as most firms rendered many unemployed.
When the coronavirus outbreak began at the start of this year, the Forex market remained steady since China was the only impacted country. When the disease began spreading across the world, concerns emerged over the risks the virus posed for various currencies, creating a significant amount of market volatility. Already the stock market was greatly impacted.
At the same time, the US dollar was not impacted by performing positively at the start of the outbreak. The US dollar outperformed a basket of currencies, like the Yen, which was marked down as investors looked at the greater risk in Asian currencies.
In the middle of the pandemic, the US dollar benefitted from the risk-on atmosphere in the currency market. However, no guarantees exist to maintain this position indefinitely. In this situation, it is assumed that most Americans wanted to take advantage or were looking for alternative forms of income since a majority had been rendered jobless.
