Another week has fairly flown by and it’s time once again to take a fresh look at the markets to see how the British pound has been doing against other currencies.
We had a pretty good time of it last time around, as we improved the exchange rate between the pound and every one of five major currencies we look at each week. That is not the first week this has happened, and the fact is that it has occurred a couple of times in recent weeks. Does this mean that things are beginning to turn in our favour at last?
It would appear that some would believe the recession has reached its lowest point already, although some are more cautious than that – and understandably so. We don’t want to celebrate before it is time, and even if the worst is over there is a long way to go yet before we can really argue that the recession is done with completely.
But we must focus on the encouraging results that we have been getting recently. The point to remember is that we have never yet had two excellent weeks in a row. We have gone from being forever down on ourselves to having the odd good week to puncture the run of bad results. And by a good week, we mean a week where the pound has increased against every one of the five currencies we look at.
That is what we managed last time around, and so this week we will be paying more attention to whether we can rack up five excellent results yet again. If we could, then that would be a good result to celebrate.
So with no further ado, let’s see whether we managed to do just that within the last few days.
An overview of the currency markets for May 18th – May 24th
So here we go. Last week we enjoyed a slight increase against the US dollar, which finished with us ending on 1.5180 for the week. Can we do better this time?
Monday the 18th certainly got the week off to a great start, as the pound managed to push things up to an impressive 1.5290 by the time the day was out. After weeks of trying to get back up to the $1.50 level we so wanted to attain, it seemed as if we had been able to sail right over it at the last minute with no problem at all.
The question now was whether we could hold onto it or not. What would Tuesday’s figure bring?
Well as it happened we had nothing to worry about yet – which could not be said of the US dollar. It was losing ground fast at the moment, and by the time the day was out the British pound had gained even more ground, ending on 1.5478 this time. How long could we carry on making this happen?
The answer to that was at least one more day, since Wednesday saw the pace of increase go up even more. The final figure as everyone headed home for the midweek point was 1.5510. By now we were wondering whether we could actually keep this up for the rest of the week, or whether the US dollar would finally hold us in check and claw back some of its losses.
But it seemed as if the Union Jack was well and truly flying and nothing would stop it. Because as it turned out, there was even better news to come on Thursday evening. We cannot remember ever having reported events like this before, but even if we have it hasn’t been for a very long time.
Thursday’s closing exchange rate was 1.5666 – meaning that this made four days so far where the rate had kept going up each day. Could we now make it five out of five and manage another increase for Friday as well – or would that be too greedy?
Well apparently it wouldn’t, as the figure we ended up with on Friday night could not have been predicted by anyone. The final exchange rate against the US dollar for the week was a rousing 1.5911. This meant that since the week before we had actually managed to increase our standing against the dollar by an amazing 0.0731 – over seven cents in a single week! Now that is definitely worth celebrating, and we certainly worked for it.
This led us to turn our attentions to the Euro. Could such a great performance against the mighty US dollar lead us to expect more of the same elsewhere? Or was this a one off?
We had a tiny increase last time against the Euro which left us on 1.1229 overall. So let’s find out what happened this time around.
Monday started well, as we managed to bag a small gain which left us on 1.1331 overnight. Did this bode well for the rest of the week, or were we in danger of getting too relaxed after the result we saw against the US dollar?
Well we did see another marginal increase on Tuesday, but it was a small one which resulted in us landing on 1.1371 for the end of the day. So it could be a week of small gains – and perhaps losses, let’s be honest – rather than the big leaps and jumps we had seen against the dollar.
Wednesday certainly seemed to confirm this as we ended up with a small loss over the day as a whole. This left us on 1.1330 at the end of the midweek point, and with just two days to go it left us wondering which currency would get the upper hand in the end.
It looked better for the pound on Thursday though, as the final exchange rate went to 1.1376. It was another small amount, but at least we were heading in the right direction. And on Friday we had yet another small increase under our belt, giving us a final exchange rate for the week of 1.1388. That meant the week as a whole had been to the advantage of the British pound, but only by a little over a Eurocent and a half. But hey, at least we were winning.
Let’s move across to Hong Kong now, to see what we could achieve there. This is always something of a mystery currency exchange where we are never quite sure of what to expect. Last time we were left with a figure of 11.766 after an increase of 0.085 across the whole week. Could we better that this time round?
It’s time to find out. Monday saw what we were now getting used to as a good result on that day. We kicked off the week against the Hong Kong dollar with a figure of 11.853 at closing time. Did that bode well for the rest of the week though?
Well the following day certainly carried on going in the right direction, as we landed on 11.998 by the close of play. That took us closer to the 12.0 figure we have been seeking than we have been in a long time. Could we now get over that threshold as we had got over the $1.50 threshold against the US dollar?
The answer was yes, as the very next day revealed. Wednesday saw the pound once again get the better of the Hong Kong dollar, and we ended up on 12.025 by the end of the day. So the question now was whether we could hold on to that amount or whether we would slip back into the 11.0 numbers again.
But it seemed as if luck or fortitude was on our side this week. Because by the end of Thursday, things had got better still and we were pegged at 12.145. What could we achieve in just one more day before the week came to a close?
The answer was a figure of 12.334. That meant we had managed to increase our standing against the Hong Kong dollar by an impressive 0.568 over just one week. Compare that to the 0.085 increase of the week before and you will see how delightful a result it is!
Now what could we do over in New Zealand? Were we in for another big increase here too? Last time we were on 2.5828 at the close of play, with five cents added on over the week as a whole. And it was looking good to continue in our favour with a closing figure of 2.5904 on the Monday.
But perhaps we should have expected a rougher time against the New Zealand dollar after a good time last week. By the end of Tuesday we were considerably worse off, with an exchange rate of 2.5599 under our belts. Now it would take the rest of the week to try and recover.
W
ednesday saw a move in the right direction with a closing rate of 2.5616, but Thursday saw most of the hard work being put in by the British pound. That was when we dragged ourselves back up to 2.5914.
Unfortunately we didn’t quite have enough steam left in us to make the result a good one for the week. Friday saw a disappointing final exchange rate of 2.5686, which meant that across the week as a whole we had lost almost a cent and a half against the New Zealand dollar. It could have been a lot worse, but it was disappointing given the results we had achieved elsewhere.
So finally we stop off in Australia to see if their results match those of New Zealand, or whether we could achieve something better. Last time we were left on 2.0128 after adding two and a half cents to the exchange rate, so could we add still more this week as well?
Monday started with just a very slight increase in our favour, as the exchange rate crept up only as far as 2.0142. We would have been right to be cautious though, as things went downhill the very next day. That was when we ended up on 1.9971. It was not a huge loss, but it was big enough and the fact that it sent us below the two dollar rate was notable.
There was no need to worry though, because we didn’t stay there very long. The following day we got to the midweek point by just scraping back over the two dollar barrier and landing on 2.0003. What would the final two days of the week bring?
As it turned out the answer was good news on the part of the British pound! The finishing rate for Thursday was rather better, with a final figure of 2.0319 being recorded. And even though we slipped back slightly the following day, to 2.0307, things had not been too bad overall. If you have lost track during all those ups and downs, let us tell you that we managed to add almost two cents onto the exchange rate since the previous week – 0.0179 to be exact.
So it was just the New Zealand dollar that let us down this time around. We increased our standing against the other four currencies, so for us that was a good week – especially given the result against the US dollar.
Notable events in the world of currency
Bad week for the US dollar
We know now that the US dollar did badly against the British pound. But it did just as poorly elsewhere as well.
Against the Euro it lost a lot more ground. After improving slightly to 0.7410 on the Monday, it fell to 0.7157 by the time the week ended. Could it do better next week, we wonder?
Hong Kong dollar also dips against the Euro
It would appear that the British pound actually did well to increase its standing against the Euro. The Hong Kong dollar fell from a closing figure of 0.0955 on the 18th to a figure of 0.0923 on the 22nd.
Kiwis beat the Aussies
Finally this week it was the Kiwis that did better as opposed to the nearby Aussies. The Australian dollar fell from 1.2860 on Monday to 1.2648 on Friday, so they will be hoping to regain some ground next time.
Sometimes what you want to know is the very latest news results on currency rates. If that is the case, and you want to know what world events could be influencing those rates, try Google.
If you visit http://news.google.co.uk/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn and then type in ‘currency rates’ with or without the quote marks, you will get all the most current results to help you out.
So there we have it for another week. And what a good week it has been! Let’s hope we can continue the run of good fortune into another week next time. We’ll see you then.
This made really interesting reading! A few weeks ago I thought the pound would never get anywhere near $1.50 against the US dollar again. So to see it as high up as $1.59 is amazing.
I wonder where it will go now though. It’s still a long way off from the $2 pound we had ages ago, but I read the news earlier online and people reckon it could be due for a better performance over time. It will be interesting to see what happens next. I think it will go over $1.60 next week – what does everyone else think?