Welcome back to another currency report, packed with the latest news and results the pound achieved last week. Of course, whether the achievements were good or not remains to be seen. So let’s find out now whether we’ll have anything to celebrate or commiserate this week.
An overview of the currency markets for February 4th – February 8th 2013
Last week had been an interesting one but now we are in a fresh week where the British pound has another chance to try and improve its standing against the American currency. It began on 1.5833 at the start of the week, but this fell to 1.5723 by the end of the first day. Just two days later things were looking bleak as the pound fell further to 1.5660. But fortunately there was better news in store as the pound reached back up to close out the week on 1.5801. It was just a shame it was a little lower than the week had begun with.
So let’s move on and see whether the pound could improve on its performance against the Euro instead. The starting rate here was 1.1604 and this had improved to 1.1629 by Tuesday before dropping back to 1.1586 the following day. It looked as though the pound was struggling here, but it was saving the best for last. The closing rate for the week turned out to be an impressive 1.1815.
The third stop is with the Hong Kong dollar, and the pound began the week here on 12.283. This fell back to 12.191 by the time Monday was over, but then recovered to 12.206 the next day. There would be further struggles during the week though, resulting in a low point of 12.143 on Wednesday. Fortunately the pound managed to push back and improve to 12.255 by Friday evening, although this was still down on the previous week.
Let’s move on to find out how the pound did against the New Zealand dollar now. The opening rate here was 1.8789 but this dropped significantly to 1.8565 on the opening day. However as it turned out this would be the lowest rate of the entire week, so it turned out to be good news. By the time the pound was done, it had managed to push back up to close out the week on 1.8859 – an improvement on its starting rate.
Finally let’s see whether the pound could do better against the Australian dollar. It began the week on 1.5239 and immediately lost ground, falling to 1.5071 by Monday night. But this was the lowest point – a similar story to the one we’d seen against the New Zealand dollar – so there was plenty to appreciate throughout the rest of the week. The closing rate by the time Friday night beckoned was a more impressive 1.5291.
Notable events in the world of currency
A slight drop noted against the Canadian dollar
The pound slid back from 1.5825 to 1.5786 here, giving us a disappointing finish to the week.
Much better news against the Swiss franc
Here the pound managed to improve from 1.4333 to 1.4511 over the course of the week.
Another good result against the Icelandic krona
Here we managed to clock up another good result for the week. The pound climbed from 199.901 to 202.039.
So it was a mixed week really, with a few good results here and there but some disappointing ones thrown into the mix as well. This was particularly the case against the Euro, where we achieved a really good result for a change.
We shall see whether the good news is extended for another week or whether there will be a change of fortunes in the week to come. Let’s hope it is good news. Until then we shall be keeping our usual eye on the progress made by the British pound, so we can see whether it is performing just as well as it should be.