Eight pairs, compared on a common scale

Each of the eight pairs below last moved at the European Central Bank fixing of 6 October 2026, set at about 14:10 CET for information purposes. A rate on its own says little about whether the day was busy or quiet, so each pair here carries its one-day change next to its typical day, the size of move a professional would expect on an ordinary day over the preceding 20 fixings, and where the rate sits in its three-month range.

EUR/USD

EUR/USD stood at 1.1269 at the fixing, up 0.58% on the previous one. Its typical day over the preceding 20 fixings was about 36 pips, with annualised volatility of 5.0%. The rate sat 13% of the way from its three-month low to its three-month high, close to the bottom of that range.

GBP/USD

GBP/USD was 1.3276, a rise of 0.39% on the day before. Its typical day over the same stretch ran to about 41 pips, with annualised volatility of 4.9%. It sat 17% of the way up its three-month range.

USD/JPY

USD/JPY was 158.09, down 0.09% on the previous fixing. Its typical day was about 80 pips, the widest of the eight, with annualised volatility of 8.1%. The rate sat 45% of the way through its three-month range, close to its midpoint.

USD/CHF

USD/CHF was 0.8305, down 0.06% on the day. Its typical day ran to about 36 pips, with annualised volatility of 6.9%. At 87% of the way from its three-month low to its three-month high, it sat close to the top of that range.

AUD/USD

AUD/USD was 0.6982, up 0.31% on the previous fixing. Its typical day was about 22 pips, the narrowest of the eight, with annualised volatility of 4.9%. It sat 19% of the way up its three-month range.

USD/CAD

USD/CAD was 1.4250, down 0.02% on the day, barely moved against the previous fixing. Its typical day ran to about 24 pips, and its annualised volatility of 2.7% was the lowest of the eight. It sat 99% of the way from its three-month low to its three-month high, against that high.

EUR/GBP

EUR/GBP was 0.8488, up 0.19% on the previous fixing. Its typical day was about 16 pips, with annualised volatility of 3.0%, both the lowest readings among the eight pairs. It sat 12% of the way up its three-month range.

EUR/JPY

EUR/JPY was 178.15, up 0.49% on the day. Its typical day ran to about 78 pips, with annualised volatility of 6.9%. It sat 12% of the way from its three-month low to its three-month high.

A percentage change on its own tells a professional very little, because the same move means something different on EUR/USD than it does on USD/JPY, and something different again on a quiet day than on a day around a central-bank decision. Reading the figures on this page properly means knowing what sits behind each column.

Typical day

A typical day is the standard deviation of a pair's daily changes over the previous 20 ECB fixings, in pips. It is a baseline for that pair. A typical day for EUR/USD over the 20 ECB fixings to 6 October 2026 was about 36 pips, our own calculation from European Central Bank reference rates, and it could contain errors and is already out of date. A typical day for USD/JPY over the same stretch was about 80 pips, calculated the same way, with the same caveat attached. Neither figure means one pair is more important than the other. It means a 60-pip move in EUR/USD is a far bigger event, relative to that pair's own behaviour, than a 60-pip move in USD/JPY.

Why a one-day change needs that context

A one-day change is the simple percentage change from the previous ECB fixing. Set against the typical day, it becomes a normal-day multiple, which is what actually tells a trader whether a move was ordinary or not. A 0.5% move in a pair whose typical day is small can be a normal-day multiple well above one, while the same percentage move in a pair with a larger typical day might sit close to its usual range. The percentage alone cannot show that difference.

Annualised volatility

Daily volatility is annualised using 252 trading days a year, the standard count of trading sessions used across FX and most other markets. Annualising puts a day-to-day figure on the same footing as the volatility measures quoted elsewhere, so it can be compared without converting it first.

Range position

Range position shows how far the current rate sits above its three-month low, as a percentage of the gap between that three-month low and high, using ECB fixings from the same day three months earlier as the start point. A rate near the top of its range and a rate near the bottom can show the same one-day percentage change and still be in very different positions within their recent trading. Range position is what distinguishes the two.