Watching eight currencies across dozens of charts to figure out which one is actually strong right now is slow and error-prone. The Currency Strength Index (CSI) indicator solves that by boiling 28 cross-currency pairs down into eight lines in a single subwindow, one per major currency. Download the free MT5 version below and install it into your MQL5/Indicators folder to get a live strength reading for EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, USD, CAD, CHF and JPY at once.

What Is the Currency Strength Index Indicator?

CSI is a separate-window indicator that plots eight colored lines — one per major currency — around a zero level. Each line is built from a Linear Weighted Moving Average (LWMA) of closing prices on every cross pair that contains that currency. For example, the EUR line is derived from EURGBP, EURAUD, EURNZD, EURUSD, EURCAD, EURCHF and EURJPY: the indicator compares each pair’s current LWMA to its LWMA a set number of bars back, multiplies the seven ratios together (inverting the ratio when the currency being measured is the quote side of the pair), and subtracts 1 to produce a percentage-style momentum score. It repeats that math for all eight majors using all 28 possible pairs among them, so every line reflects that currency’s behavior against the whole basket at once rather than against a single counter-pair.

Because the calculation runs across every pair in the market watch, the indicator automatically detects your broker’s symbol suffix (things like “.pro” or “-ecn”) and adds each of the 28 required pairs to the Market Watch if they aren’t already selected.

Key Features

• Eight-currency dashboard — EUR, GBP, AUD, NZD, USD, CAD, CHF and JPY plotted simultaneously, each in its own color with a text label.
• Built on 28 cross pairs — the strength of each currency is decorrelated from the other seven majors rather than judged off a single pair.
• Adjustable LWMA period — the ma_period_ input controls the smoothing period applied to every underlying pair.
• Adjustable lookback delta — the ma_delta input sets how many bars back the comparison baseline sits, letting you tune the indicator between fast and slower strength readings.
• Per-currency show/hide toggles — eight boolean inputs (ShowEUR through ShowJPY) let you declutter the subwindow down to only the currencies you actually trade.
• Zero-centered scale — a horizontal level line at 0.0 makes it easy to see which currencies are currently showing positive versus negative relative momentum.
• Works on any chart symbol — the indicator reads the broker suffix from whatever symbol you attach it to, so it isn’t tied to a specific pair.

How to Use It

Installation

1. Download the CURRENCY_STRENGTH_INDEX.mq5 file.
2. In MetaTrader 5, go to File > Open Data Folder and open MQL5/Indicators.
3. Copy the file in, then restart MT5 or right-click Indicators in the Navigator and choose Refresh.
4. Drag the indicator onto any chart. It will run in its own subwindow and may briefly load history for the 28 underlying pairs the first time it initializes.

Reading the Indicator

Each line’s position relative to the zero level tells you whether that currency is gaining or losing relative strength against the basket over the chosen lookback. A line rising above zero and pulling away from the others shows a currency building momentum on its own; a line falling below zero shows the opposite. The gap between the highest and lowest lines is a rough read on how much dispersion exists in the market right now — a tight cluster means no currency is dominating, while a wide spread means there is a clear leader and laggard.

Trading With It

The most common use is pairing the strongest currency with the weakest one to find a pair with a clear directional bias — for example, if USD is the top line and JPY is the bottom line, USDJPY becomes a candidate for a long bias, while a pair combining two lines sitting close together is usually a lower-conviction, more range-bound candidate. CSI is a bias and confirmation tool rather than an entry trigger: most traders use it to select which pair to focus on, then apply their normal entry method (price action, support/resistance, another oscillator) on that pair’s own chart.

Best Timeframes / Best Use Cases

Because it’s built on an LWMA of closing prices, CSI works on any timeframe your terminal supports — the strength readings simply reflect momentum over whatever period the chart is set to. It’s popular on H1 to H4 charts for swing and day-trading pair selection, and on M15 or lower for scalpers who want to quickly confirm which side of a pair has the momentum edge before entering. Because it needs live data on 28 pairs, it’s best run on a stable VPS or terminal connection so the underlying LWMA handles stay fully calculated.

Final Thoughts

The Currency Strength Index indicator turns a tedious manual process — scanning charts pair by pair to guess which currency is strong — into a single subwindow you can read in seconds. Because every line is derived mathematically from all 28 major cross pairs rather than a single reference pair, it gives a genuinely basket-wide view of relative currency momentum, with a fully adjustable period, lookback delta, and per-currency visibility to match your own trading approach.