Welcome back to another overview of what has been happening on the currency markets over the past week. The currency converter has revealed some interesting results, so let’s see what they are right now.
An overview of the currency markets for October 10th – October 14th 2011
The last time we caught up with the British pound against the US dollar, we left it on 1.5534. But we were in for a good week this time around as we immediately climbed to 1.5643 by Monday evening. The good news continued as well and we eventually ended the week on the highest point for those few days, giving us a finishing rate of 1.5783.
Even though the future of the Euro may still be in doubt, it is still around at the moment. Last week the pound started off at 1.1563 against the single European currency, and it was not going to get the same good results it had seen against the US dollar. Instead it dropped consistently during the week, ending on 1.1431 on Friday night.
So which pattern would the pound follow against the Hong Kong dollar? The opening rate was 12.092 and we experienced some early good news as the currency improved to 12.175 by Monday evening. We then had a few up and down days, but thankfully the pound finished on the highest note of the week, achieving a rate of 12.275 in the process.
Next on our list of stops around the currency world is the New Zealand dollar. Last time the British pound left off on 2.0101 so we were hoping to stay above that two dollar mark. However this is not what happened. Instead we ended up dropping virtually all week long, which meant we ended up on 1.9795 by the time the week was over.
We often see a similar pattern against the Australian dollar as well, according to what has happened against the New Zealand dollar. So would the same thing happen now? The opening rate was very different on 1.5871, but the pattern was indeed the same. The pound continued to drop in value throughout the week, but the damage done was greater. We finished up on 1.5394 at the close of play on Friday.
Notable events in the world of currency
Not much movement against the Canadian dollar
We lost a little ground during the week here, but eventually we moved very little from 1.6085 to 1.6015 over the course of the week.
More lost ground against the Swiss franc
We didn’t do well here either, dropping from 1.4298 to 1.4160 throughout the week.
But there was better news against the Chinese currency
The pound was stronger than the yuan last week, climbing from 9.8766 to 10.079 throughout the week.
So we can see that we’ve had a mixed week of results against all manner of currencies this time. The pound did exceptionally well against the US dollar, but perhaps we should have expected it to do better against the Euro. The week ended with reports of the good news regarding the pounds position against the US dollar, as in this story from Reuters. The onus definitely appeared to be on the US dollar, with little good news coming from the direction of Europe.
So why is the pound struggling against a single currency that is on the brink of disaster? You would expect the pound to be doing far better in this situation, but it is not the only currency that is decreasing in value against the Euro. The US dollar found itself in a similar position last week, so we should not be too worried about the situation as it stands.
We shall be watching closely to see how the British pound performs in the coming weeks, as we approach the end of the year. Will 2011 end on a good note or a bad one?
The future of the Euro has to be more in doubt now than ever. I did smile when I saw on the news that the markets had responded well to the so called deal to resolve Europe’s problems. The very next day they were suffering again and everything was back to doom and gloom. Maybe if we put the Euro out of its misery now instead of trying to extend the pain we would all be better off.
I’m afraid I am a total cynic when it comes to Europe and the Euro. I never believed it was a good idea, but I feel far from happy now to say “I told you so.” All those poor Greek people you see on the news reacting with anger at what has happened, it makes you feel very depressed. I’m glad the UK doesn’t have the Euro but we’ll be affected as surely as any other place will be.
I think CDixon has it right – the Euro is in grave danger of collapsing and the sad part is that even though the UK is not part of the currency, it will still suffer. It makes you wonder what would happen if or when the currency does die a natural (or unnatural) death. I think there is a very real chance of that happening, and keeping it alive would be by far the worst thing to do.