Sri Lanka — Correlation - Checking a Second Position Against the First
Start from the instrument already open, read across to the candidate, and treat a strongly positive value as one position at a larger size. Computed from recent daily closes on the MetaTrader 5 history.
Open Exness Account →Check correlation before opening a second position, not after. Find the instrument already held, read across the row to the one being considered, and treat a strongly positive value as the same position at a larger size. If the value is strongly negative, the two positions partly cancel, which is not a hedge so much as a smaller net position paying two spreads.
Why correlation matters for position sizing
Two open positions in strongly correlated instruments behave like one position at double the size — the account is exposed to a single move twice. In this sample the most correlated pair was EUR/JPY and GBP/JPY at +0.93, and the most inverse was EUR/USD and USD/CHF at -0.90. A trader long both halves of a +0.9 pair holds one trade, not two.
Correlation of daily returns (last ~60 sessions)
| EURUSD | GBPUSD | USDJPY | AUDUSD | USDCAD | USDCHF | NZDUSD | EURGBP | EURJPY | GBPJPY | AUDJPY | XAUUSD | XAGUSD | USOIL | UKOIL | US500 | US30 | USTEC | DE30 | JP225 | UK100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EURUSD | 1.00 | +0.83 | -0.51 | +0.61 | -0.69 | -0.90 | +0.76 | +0.04 | -0.03 | -0.04 | -0.13 | +0.58 | +0.55 | -0.16 | +0.02 | +0.23 | +0.13 | +0.27 | +0.15 | +0.26 | -0.08 |
| GBPUSD | +0.83 | 1.00 | -0.42 | +0.57 | -0.54 | -0.76 | +0.79 | -0.53 | -0.01 | +0.18 | -0.05 | +0.44 | +0.41 | -0.14 | -0.08 | +0.22 | +0.09 | +0.21 | +0.11 | +0.19 | -0.09 |
| USDJPY | -0.51 | -0.42 | 1.00 | -0.47 | +0.39 | +0.57 | -0.46 | -0.03 | +0.87 | +0.82 | +0.78 | -0.31 | -0.27 | +0.12 | -0.02 | -0.36 | -0.37 | -0.26 | -0.24 | -0.13 | -0.00 |
| AUDUSD | +0.61 | +0.57 | -0.47 | 1.00 | -0.47 | -0.62 | +0.71 | -0.09 | -0.20 | -0.15 | +0.19 | +0.51 | +0.51 | -0.32 | -0.01 | +0.51 | +0.43 | +0.53 | +0.36 | +0.51 | +0.05 |
| USDCAD | -0.69 | -0.54 | +0.39 | -0.47 | 1.00 | +0.66 | -0.59 | -0.08 | +0.06 | +0.09 | +0.11 | -0.52 | -0.44 | -0.12 | -0.03 | -0.03 | +0.03 | -0.07 | +0.02 | -0.09 | +0.08 |
| USDCHF | -0.90 | -0.76 | +0.57 | -0.62 | +0.66 | 1.00 | -0.75 | -0.02 | +0.14 | +0.14 | +0.18 | -0.63 | -0.59 | +0.21 | -0.02 | -0.27 | -0.21 | -0.28 | -0.19 | -0.26 | +0.06 |
| NZDUSD | +0.76 | +0.79 | -0.46 | +0.71 | -0.59 | -0.75 | 1.00 | -0.25 | -0.10 | -0.00 | +0.00 | +0.47 | +0.46 | -0.16 | -0.03 | +0.29 | +0.16 | +0.33 | +0.19 | +0.31 | -0.03 |
| EURGBP | +0.04 | -0.53 | -0.03 | -0.09 | -0.08 | -0.02 | -0.25 | 1.00 | -0.01 | -0.37 | -0.10 | +0.08 | +0.10 | +0.02 | +0.17 | -0.04 | +0.04 | +0.05 | +0.03 | +0.07 | +0.03 |
| EURJPY | -0.03 | -0.01 | +0.87 | -0.20 | +0.06 | +0.14 | -0.10 | -0.01 | 1.00 | +0.93 | +0.83 | -0.03 | -0.00 | +0.06 | -0.01 | -0.28 | -0.36 | -0.15 | -0.20 | -0.00 | -0.05 |
| GBPJPY | -0.04 | +0.18 | +0.82 | -0.15 | +0.09 | +0.14 | -0.00 | -0.37 | +0.93 | 1.00 | +0.80 | -0.06 | -0.04 | +0.05 | -0.07 | -0.25 | -0.34 | -0.15 | -0.20 | -0.03 | -0.06 |
| AUDJPY | -0.13 | -0.05 | +0.78 | +0.19 | +0.11 | +0.18 | +0.00 | -0.10 | +0.83 | +0.80 | 1.00 | +0.02 | +0.07 | -0.10 | -0.04 | -0.03 | -0.10 | +0.10 | -0.01 | +0.23 | +0.04 |
| XAUUSD | +0.58 | +0.44 | -0.31 | +0.51 | -0.52 | -0.63 | +0.47 | +0.08 | -0.03 | -0.06 | +0.02 | 1.00 | +0.92 | -0.22 | -0.03 | +0.21 | +0.29 | +0.19 | +0.31 | +0.35 | -0.09 |
| XAGUSD | +0.55 | +0.41 | -0.27 | +0.51 | -0.44 | -0.59 | +0.46 | +0.10 | -0.00 | -0.04 | +0.07 | +0.92 | 1.00 | -0.24 | -0.01 | +0.37 | +0.34 | +0.38 | +0.45 | +0.52 | -0.08 |
| USOIL | -0.16 | -0.14 | +0.12 | -0.32 | -0.12 | +0.21 | -0.16 | +0.02 | +0.06 | +0.05 | -0.10 | -0.22 | -0.24 | 1.00 | +0.08 | -0.51 | -0.54 | -0.39 | -0.46 | -0.29 | -0.05 |
| UKOIL | +0.02 | -0.08 | -0.02 | -0.01 | -0.03 | -0.02 | -0.03 | +0.17 | -0.01 | -0.07 | -0.04 | -0.03 | -0.01 | +0.08 | 1.00 | -0.05 | +0.01 | -0.06 | +0.03 | -0.02 | -0.03 |
| US500 | +0.23 | +0.22 | -0.36 | +0.51 | -0.03 | -0.27 | +0.29 | -0.04 | -0.28 | -0.25 | -0.03 | +0.21 | +0.37 | -0.51 | -0.05 | 1.00 | +0.83 | +0.89 | +0.61 | +0.72 | -0.04 |
| US30 | +0.13 | +0.09 | -0.37 | +0.43 | +0.03 | -0.21 | +0.16 | +0.04 | -0.36 | -0.34 | -0.10 | +0.29 | +0.34 | -0.54 | +0.01 | +0.83 | 1.00 | +0.55 | +0.72 | +0.41 | +0.06 |
| USTEC | +0.27 | +0.21 | -0.26 | +0.53 | -0.07 | -0.28 | +0.33 | +0.05 | -0.15 | -0.15 | +0.10 | +0.19 | +0.38 | -0.39 | -0.06 | +0.89 | +0.55 | 1.00 | +0.45 | +0.89 | -0.07 |
| DE30 | +0.15 | +0.11 | -0.24 | +0.36 | +0.02 | -0.19 | +0.19 | +0.03 | -0.20 | -0.20 | -0.01 | +0.31 | +0.45 | -0.46 | +0.03 | +0.61 | +0.72 | +0.45 | 1.00 | +0.43 | +0.04 |
| JP225 | +0.26 | +0.19 | -0.13 | +0.51 | -0.09 | -0.26 | +0.31 | +0.07 | -0.00 | -0.03 | +0.23 | +0.35 | +0.52 | -0.29 | -0.02 | +0.72 | +0.41 | +0.89 | +0.43 | 1.00 | -0.06 |
| UK100 | -0.08 | -0.09 | -0.00 | +0.05 | +0.08 | +0.06 | -0.03 | +0.03 | -0.05 | -0.06 | +0.04 | -0.09 | -0.08 | -0.05 | -0.03 | -0.04 | +0.06 | -0.07 | +0.04 | -0.06 | 1.00 |
+1.00 = the instruments moved together every session; −1.00 = they moved opposite; near 0 = independent. Green = positive, red = negative; deeper colour = stronger link.
Read it with care
- 60 daily closes is a short window — treat values as indicative, not fixed.
- Correlations shift with the macro backdrop and can flip in stressed markets.
- Crypto instruments trade a 7-day week and are omitted — their daily series does not align bar-for-bar with 5-day markets.
- Correlation says nothing about direction — only about moving together.
The matrix is computed from recent daily closes on the platform history. Read the extremes as the actionable part and the middle of the range as noise, and re-read the row rather than carrying a remembered value into a new market background.
Open Exness Account →The mistake the matrix is meant to catch
Two open positions in strongly correlated instruments behave like one position at double the size: the account is exposed to a single move twice, while the position list suggests the risk has been spread across two ideas. The account only finds out when both move together.
The check takes one row and one column, and it belongs before the second order is sent. Everything about the second position - its volume, its stop distance, whether it is opened at all - changes depending on what that value says.
Why a short window still helps
The matrix is built from a limited number of daily closes, which makes it indicative rather than fixed. That is enough for a sizing decision: a value near the extremes is telling you something structural about the two instruments, and small differences in the middle of the range are not worth acting on.
Treat the extremes as the actionable part and the middle as noise, and re-read the row each time rather than carrying a remembered value into a new market background.
A one-line rule to carry away
Before the second order: open the row of the instrument already held, read across to the candidate, and if the value sits near the top of the range, size the pair as one position rather than two.
That single line covers most of what the matrix is for. Everything else on this page is context for why the rule exists and how far the underlying numbers can be trusted.
Checking a second position against the first
- Start from the instrument already open, not from the one being considered. The row that matters belongs to the existing exposure.
- Read across to the candidate instrument and note the value: near +1 means they moved together every session, near -1 means opposite, near 0 means independent.
- For a strongly positive value, add the two positions together as if they were one instrument and check the combined size against the account.
- For a strongly negative value, subtract them and ask whether the remaining net position is worth two entry costs.
- Re-size before opening. It is easier to reduce the second position than to unwind a combined exposure that has already moved.
- Re-check the row rather than remembering it, because correlations shift with the macro background and the window here is short.
The matrix is computed from recent daily closes. It describes how instruments have moved, not how they will move.