Welcome back to another currency report that tells us how challenging the British pound is finding things at the moment. Even when good results are achieved they may not last long, and this could mean there is trouble ahead for the currency as we progress through the week.
An overview of the currency markets for June 10th – June 14th 2013
As the week began the British pound was worth 1.5576 against the US dollar. This dropped to 1.5532 by the end of Monday evening, but there was better news to come over the rest of the week. In fact that turned out to be the lowest point and from then on things improved considerably. By the time Friday evening came around, the pound had managed to move up and claim an exchange rate of 1.5623 against the US dollar.
The opening rate against the Euro was 1.1746 and while the pound may have dropped initially against the dollar, the same was not true here. Indeed it went the opposite way, rising to 1.1759 on Monday evening before dropping back to 1.1710 the next day. This turned out to be a very up and down week, with lots of good points and bad points before the pound eventually settled on a closing rate of 1.1743 – just slightly down on where it had begun.
Over with the Hong Kong dollar, the pound started the week on 12.090. Here too there was a drop initially as the pound sank back to 12.058. Would this be the story of the week or would there be better news as the week went on? Luckily for us it was the latter, as the pound was determined to put on a reasonable show of strength. This resulted in the currency finishing the week on a healthier 12.126 – rather better than its opening rate just a few days earlier.
Next up is the New Zealand dollar. Here the pound managed to go from 1.9567 to 1.9670 on day one, before soaring to reach 2.0002 on Tuesday evening. It has been a while since we have seen the pound go so high. However it was not to last and just 24 hours later the pound was back down to a disappointing 1.9574. There was a little more action to come during the week though, as the pound finished Friday evening on a low rate of 1.9341.
Finally we have to see whether the pound could achieve anything of note against the Australian dollar. The starting point was 1.6358 and while this immediately perked up to 1.6442, we were still thinking of the situation against the New Zealand dollar. Indeed, even an improvement to 1.6636 on Tuesday didn’t give us enough to feel secure about. And so it happened to be, because by the time the week was over the pound had slid back to 1.6254.
Notable events in the world of currency
A drop for the pound against the Canadian dollar
In this case the pound fell from 1.5937 to 1.5882, as the Canadian dollar got the best of the British currency.
A slight rise for the pound against the Swiss franc
Here the pound managed to climb from 1.4416 to 1.4470 as the week went on.
Another rise against the Chinese currency
The pound managed to do well against the Chinese yuan too, as it rose from 9.5533 to 9.5781 over the course of the week.
As you can see there was a real mix of results last week. It is always good to have a week that isn’t filled with bad news from all quarters, but this was almost an average week so far as things go. The more you focus on the regularly weekly reports the more you realise the pound has a lot to prove each time, trying to hold its ground against all manner of world currencies. Perhaps next week will provide a range of excellent results – or it could go the other way entirely.