It may be hard to believe but this week sees the beginning of August and the first few days of currency results for the new month. How would the British pound fare at this time? Would it stay strong against the US dollar and the Euro, or would there be a different story in store?
An overview of the currency markets for July 30th – August 3rd 2012
As July came to an end the pound started the week on 1.5731 against the US dollar. This dropped a little to 1.5703 on the 30th, before falling further to 1.5669 on the last day of July. If we hoped for better news going into August we didn’t get it – the pound fell to 1.5616 as the first day came to an end. Indeed things didn’t get any better by the time the week was over. The last exchange rate for the week against the US dollar turned out to be a disappointing 1.5550.
So would there be a similar story against the Euro or would we see a different result here? The pound began the week on 1.2772 and things looked good to begin with, as it rose to 1.2822 by the end of Monday evening. This would be as good as it got though, because just 24 hours later it was back down to 1.2755. It dropped into 1.26 territory the following day, and fell to a low of 1.2651 on Thursday evening. A marginal recovery to 1.2699 on Friday didn’t do much to make us feel any better.
Onto the Hong Kong dollar now, where the pound started on 12.203. But there would be bad news here too, because by Monday evening the pound had fallen to 12.178. The pound steadily lost more ground up until Wednesday, when it hit a low thus far of 12.109. It perked up a little the next day – hitting 12.114 in the process – before falling back to close out the week on 12.058.
The New Zealand dollar is next on our list, and the starting point here is 1.9524. Could the pound improve on this or would it go down the same slippery slope as it had against the other currencies? The answers came thick and fast and there was an unnerving pattern being produced as the pound progressed through the week. Monday ended on 1.9405. Tuesday ended on 1.9345. Wednesday ended on 1.9231, so you can see we’re heading down in value every day. In fact Friday ended on 1.9097 so it was a disappointing time here too.
Finally we have the Australian dollar to check out, and the pound started the week on 1.9524 here. By Monday evening the now familiar fall in value was in place, with a lower rate of 1.9405. And by the end of the week we saw a similar picture to the one we’d seen against the New Zealand dollar – with the pound finishing on 1.9097.
Notable events in the world of currency
A poor showing against the Canadian dollar
There was nowhere for the pound to hide last week as it fell from 1.5846 to 1.5597 against the Canadian dollar.
A drop against the Indian rupee too
Here the British pound fell from 87.050 to 86.700 over the course of the week.
And more bad news against the Swiss franc
It wasn’t a good week for the pound as it fell from 1.5339 to 1.5254 here.
As it turns out, a meeting at the Bank of England could turn out to be the main reason behind the pound’s woes last week. This news story reveals more about the situation and how it affected our currency.
So it has not been a good week for our currency, but perhaps we can bounce back from this and enjoy some better results next week. We will keep you posted on what happens next in the world currency markets.