So here we are at the end of 2012, with the first few days of trading in 2013 to look into. With no further ado let’s see how the currency markets progressed from one year to another, and how the British pound did as a result.
An overview of the currency markets for December 31st – January 4th 2012
When it came to battling against the US dollar, the pound started New Year’s Eve on 1.6136. By the end of the day it was slightly better off on 1.6167. Obviously there was no trading on the first day of the New Year, but when things did get back underway the pound ended up in worse shape. It perked up to 1.6292 on the 2nd before dropping back to 1.6018 to close out the week.
But would there be a similar story against the Euro? Here the pound began the week on 1.2240 before closing slightly better off at 1.2253 on the 31st. When it started trading again on the 2nd it jumped to 1.2285 before pushing ahead and doing even better – a direct contrast to the state against the dollar. The week ended with the pound on an impressive 1.2310.
The pound started the last day of 2012 on 12.508 before edging up to 12.530 to close the year. Again the 2nd turned out to be a turning point, as it reached a high of 12.627. Unfortunately things then took a turn for the worse, resulting in the pound closing the first few days of 2013 on 12.417.
Against the New Zealand dollar, the British pound started on 1.9649 before rising to finish on New Year’s Eve on a rate of 1.9660. But things then started to look worse for the pound, resulting in a week ending rate of 1.9458.
Finally let’s see whether the pound would do better or worse than this against the Australian dollar. The opening rate for the week was 1.5535, which climbed marginally to 1.5576 before the year was out. Unfortunately there would not be such good news to celebrate for the entire week. Instead the pound failed to make any initial impact on the Aussie dollar for the New Year, dropping instead to 1.5381 by Friday night.
Notable events in the world of currency
A drop for the pound versus the Canadian dollar
Unfortunately the pound fell from 1.6062 to 1.5877 over the course of the week that bridged the old year with the new.
But there was better news against the Swiss franc
Here the pound was able to start on 1.4786 and move up to a better rate of 1.4886 over these first few days of the year.
A drop against the Chinese yuan
But there was worse news to come, as the pound fell from 10.058 to 9.980 over the same few days.
So you can see the first week of the New Year saw some interesting results. In some areas the pound was better off than it had been on New Year’s Eve. But in others there was clearly more work to do as the pound dropped back from where it had started.
But we have a New Year ahead now and it is difficult not to feel some positivity in what could be ahead. Needless to say we shall be watching the markets closely to see whether the British pound enjoys a general improvement over the early part of 2013, or whether things head in the opposite direction. On these early results it is impossible to say which way things could go. A lot of factors will come into play this year, just as in any other, to determine whether the pound will be remembered for a good performance or a bad one.
Whatever the story may be, we shall be here throughout 2013 to bring it to you. So make sure you come back next week for the latest in news from the currency markets.