Support

Xignite receives direct exchange rates for most currency pairs. If an exchange rate is not available for a currency pair, we calculate it by converting through a major currency.

Example: We want to know the exchange rate of Canadian Dollars (CAD) to Egyptian Pounds (EGP).  If CAD and EGP did not trade directly, the system will search for a more common, highly-traded currency (USD or EUR). If CAD and USD traded, and EGP and USD traded, Xignite can derive an exchange rate for "CAD to EGP" using USD. This is done for all fields in the data output (not just the Average/Mid Rate).

The rates returned from the Official  exchange rate APIs (GetOfficialCrossRate(s), GetOfficialHistoricalRate(s)) are typically determined by the central banks or equivalent authority within each Country.

Official rates are not typically quoted in the same terms of Bid/Ask/Mid as the general forex rates available in our services. Instead, the central banks tend to calculate a static rate on a specific date, and only quote this rate for a limited list of currencies. Central banks may not provide "reverse rates" for each other's currency. For example, the Polish National Bank quotes an exchange rate for their Zlotyc (PLN) to Chinese Yuan (CNY). However, this does not imply that there will be an official rate of CNY to PLN; it will depend on whether the Chinese Central Bank PBOC publishes a rate specific for their Yuan to the Polish Zlotyc. Please refer to the following links for a list of Central  Bank coverage for each Service version, and the currency exchange rates they publish:

XigniteCurrencies: https://www.xignite.com/product/XigniteCurrencies/api/legacy/v1/GetOfficialCrossRate/

XigniteGlobalCurrencies: https://www.xignite.com/product/forex/api/GetOfficialHistoricalRate/

If you have any questions after reading this, please send them to support@xignite.com and we can assist.

If you used the "GetAverageHistoricalCrossRate" API from the XigniteCurrencies service and are migrating to XigniteGlobalCurrencies, you may wonder where to find equivalent functionality.

In the updated XigniteGlobalCurrencies service, the Average exchange rate is now available in the results from all our historical APIs (GetHistoricalRate, GetHistoricalRates, etc.).
It is included as the last field in the output, just below the <Close> field.  Here is a sample of the data structure in XML that highlights this new value:


If you have any questions on this change, please send an e-mail to support@xignite.com.

No. The "inverse" of a currency pair is not always equal to the exchange rate of the opposite pair. 

For example - suppose USDEUR has a value of 1.3050. The inverse of this rate is 1 / 1.3050 = 0.7763. You may expect that the exchange rate of EURUSD should equal 0.7763 at the same time.

While the two numbers should be very close, there is no guarantee they will match exactly. While Forex markets are massive and very liquid, they are also very distributed and decentralized. Not all trades occur exactly at the same time, in the same places and with the same price discovery:

For instance:

1. The timing of the last trade in USDEUR versus the last trade for EURUSD would have to match perfectly, and this is unlikely. Even in a very liquid market, there could be small price difference even for trades occurring sub-seconds apart.
2. The contributor for an exchange rates can change for any currency pair. If the quote for USDEUR comes from one contributor and EURUSD comes from another, again it is unlikely to match as those contributors could use different feeds and price discovery mechanisms. The size of the trades on each side of the pair can also vary and affect the rates.

If you still have any questions about this topic, please send an e-mail to support@xignite.com.

The forex markets are open 24 hours a day, from Sunday @ 5:00 pm EST through Friday @ 5:00 pm EST each week. During weekend hours outside this window, there may be quotes issued by some marketplaces but they do not affect the quotes in our service. XigniteCurrencies API's will show the "Last" Rate for a currency pair as the market closes on Friday through the weekend until Sunday @ 5:00 pm EST. Updates resume on Sunday at 5:00 pm EST.

Each country also has its own trading hours. The highest activity occurs when multiple markets are open. Sydney begins at 5:00 pm EST, and New York closes at 5:00 pm EST--setting the pace for the start and close of trading. Those hours can be affected by Daylight Savings Time in each country.

• Sydney: 5:00 pm to 2:00 am EST
• Tokyo: 7:00 pm to 4:00 am EST 
• London: 3:00 am to 12:00 noon EST 
• New York: 8:00am to 5:00 pm EST