DXY Dollar Index Explainer

What is the Dollar Index DXY?

The dollar index is the measure of the value of the US dollar relative to a basket of six foreign currencies. His first established in 1973 following the Bretton Woods agreement. It is maintained by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) 

The choice of the six foreign currencies is based on America's most significant trading partners. If the index is rising, it means that the dollar is gaining strength relative to the other currencies: while the opposite is true, a falling DXY means the dollar is weakening relative to the other currencies. As commodities are dollar denominated, they will be impacted by the relative strength of the dollar.

Historically, the DXY has swung from a low of 71 in the 1990s to a high 160 in the 1980s but tends to lie in the range of  90-110.

What Currencies Make up the DXY?

• Euro (EUR) - 57.6% weight
• Japanese yen (JPY) - 13.6%
• Pound sterling (GBP) - 11.9%
• Canadian dollar (CAD) - 9.1%
• Swedish krona (SEK) - 4.2%
• Swiss franc (CHF) - 3.6%

How is the DXY Calculated?

The dollar index is calculated using a simple weighted average of the US dollar exchange rates against these currencies which is then normalised using an indexing factor (50.1435)

USDX = 50.14348112 × EURUSD^-0.576 × USDJPY^0.136 × GBPUSD^-0.119 × USDCAD^0.091 × USDSEK^0.042 × USDCHF^0.036