It’s time once again to see whether the British pound had enough power to take on the biggest currencies around the world. Would it have a good week or would it end up dropping in value against the likes of the Euro and the US dollar? Let’s find out what happened as September progressed further.
An overview of the currency markets for September 17th – September 21st 2012
As the week opened the pound started on 1.6217 against the US dollar. By the end of the first day there was very little difference, but the following day it had improved to 1.6246. However the celebration was short lived as the pound dropped back to 1.6197 the next day. Fortunately the final rate for the week perked up to 1.6261, so all was not lost in the final analysis.
Let’s move on now to see whether the same was true against the Euro. Here the British pound began the week on 1.2384 and there was an immediate rise to 1.2392 on day one. In fact this was a good omen for the rest of the week, since it turned out the pound was firmly in the driving seat. The pound rose against the Euro every single day of the week, finishing with a flourish on a healthy 1.2520 on Friday evening.
Now would the same be true against the Hong Kong dollar? We began with an exchange rate of 12.572 and although this dropped to 12.571 by Monday evening, the pound improved to 12.594 the very next day. It turned out to be a week of ups and downs here as we then fell back to 12.558, but fortunately we ended on a good note with an exchange rate of 12.605 on Friday night.
Let’s move on to the New Zealand dollar now, where the pound began the week on 1.9467. The first two days were strong for the pound and by Tuesday night it closed on 1.9647. However it then dropped back slightly, which meant that by the end of the week it had stalled on 1.9532. However this was still better than the opening rate so it was another good result for the British currency.
Finally let’s see whether the Australian dollar would get the upper hand against the pound. Our currency kicked off on 1.5314 and Monday night saw an improvement to 1.5430. There was more good news to come as well, because by Tuesday evening the pound was up to 1.5590. While it couldn’t quite maintain that improvement through to Friday, it did manage to close in a better state on 1.5481.
Notable events in the world of currency
A good week against the Canadian dollar
The pound had a good result here as well, climbing from 1.5639 to 1.5843 over the course of the week.
Another good result against the Swiss franc
Clearly the pound was doing well last week; it moved up from 1.5062 to 1.5162 here as well.
A smaller improvement against the Chinese yuan
Here the pound went from 10.241 to 10.253 so while the improvement was smaller it still went the right way for the pound.
To close out the week, there was a Forex related news story from Reuters pointing to the improvement the Euro had made against the US dollar. According to news reports, Spain’s financial woes could end in it asking for financial help from the Eurozone, and it was this news that led to the movements in the markets.
So it has been a strong week for the British pound, but of course the question as always is whether the strong week will continue in the future. We shall be back next week to see whether the pound has been able to continue this performance for another week, or whether the other major currencies have fought back. What will the answer be? We will reveal the answers very soon, so make sure you come back to find out.
A strong week this week maybe, but it’s always up and down and I think we’ve had a bad week this time around. I’ll have to take another look at the report. We definitely need to time it right when it comes to swapping one currency for another don’t we?