Here we are once again in the no man’s land between Christmas and the New Year. The only question we have in mind this week is whether the British pound can end the year on a reasonable note. As we saw last time the currency converter was not kind to the pound in the run up to Christmas, so will we see better results this time?
An overview of the currency markets for December 27th – December 31st 2010
We were left with a rate of 1.5417 against the US dollar at the end of the previous week. We improved to 1.5460 on the 28th before dropping back again, but by the end of the week (and indeed the year) we had recovered to 1.5523. So it would be a reasonable start to 2011 against the US dollar as far as the pound was concerned.
Let’s move on to see whether we could achieve something similar against the Euro now. Here we were starting on 1.1770, but if there was a phrase to describe what the pound went through that week, it would be this – the only way is down.
We gradually lost ground over the last few days of 2010, leaving us on 1.1617 overall by the time trading closed on New Year’s Eve.
Moving on to the Hong Kong dollar, there was a very different picture here. First of all we began with a rate of 11.995, and although not every day produced a good result, the overall picture was rather more pleasing. By the time the pound was done we ended up with a closing rate for 2010 of 12.065.
The next stop is as always the New Zealand dollar. We started on 2.0607 after a poor week last week, and things were not going to get any better now. We did manage to improve to 2.0613 on the first day of the week, but just twenty four hours later we had dropped back to 2.0446. There was worse to come though because we ended the week on a dreadful 1.9982 – the first time in a long time that we had dropped below the two dollar mark.
Finally we have the Aussie dollar to check out. But here too there was little good news to close out the year with. The starting rate of 1.5362 was soon forgotten as the pound failed to do anything worthwhile. By the time the week was over we had fallen back to 1.5261. It could have been worse certainly, but it could have produced something much better as well.
Notable events in the world of currency
US dollar also slips against Aussie dollar
It wasn’t all good news for every other currency either last week. The US dollar dropped from 0.9964 to 0.9830 over the course of the week.
Slight drop for the Aussie dollar against the Euro too
Here the starting point was 0.7661, but by the end of the week the exchange rate had fallen slightly to 0.7612.
But the Euro does well against the Hong Kong dollar
There was some good news here though as the Euro managed to climb from 10.191 to 10.385 as 2010 came to a close.
As one year gives way to another one, it is hard to see how the pound can make a positive start to 2011. We shall have to wait and see how the first week of the New Year gets underway of course, but it seems doubtful that the pound should be starting it in good form. This is certainly true if you take into account how it has wavered over the past two weeks.
Many interesting stories regarding currencies have been reported over those final few days of 2010, but this one is of particular interest. It shows that the British pound is not the only currency to struggle at the moment.