Welcome to another fascinating currency report where we reveal whether the British pound had a good week, a bad one – or something in the middle.
An overview of the currency markets for July 29th – August 2nd 2013
Let’s see how the week would begin for the British pound against the US dollar. Here the pound started off on a rate of 1.5399 and it wasn’t the best start either – by the end of the day the pound had dropped to 1.5369. This started a downward slide that was halted on Wednesday with a rate of 1.5197. The pound improved slightly on Thursday before falling back to 1.5152 on Friday night.
Would we see a similar pattern with the Euro too? The opening rate here was 1.1613 and once again Monday didn’t get us off to the best start. By the time Wednesday rolled around the pound had gone as low as 1.1448. Again it followed the pattern set by its performance against the dollar, as it rose to 1.1504 on Thursday and fell back to 1.1476 by the end of the week.
By the time we looked at the performance of the pound versus the Hong Kong dollar, it was becoming predictable to see when the pound would have its ups and downs. The opening rate here was 11.945 and this steadily dropped back to 11.785 by Wednesday evening. Once again we saw an improvement to 11.810 on Thursday before falling back to close out the week on 11.753.
So far we have seen a similar pattern against all three of these currencies, but would things stay the same against the New Zealand dollar? Quite often we see a different pattern here, and so it would prove to be the case this week as well. The pound opened on 1.9110 against the New Zealand dollar, and while it dropped a little on Monday it soon recovered to a better rate the following day. Indeed while it was something of an up and down week, it finished on a good note as the British pound closed up on 1.9240 by Friday evening.
Finally let’s see whether the Australian dollar could do the same. The opening rate here was 1.6654 and this was given the chance to improve throughout the week. Indeed the pound was actually able to save the best news for last, as it closed Friday evening on a healthy rate of 1.7027.
Notable events in the world of currency
A slight drop against the Canadian dollar
Unfortunately the pound dropped from 1.5838 here to close the week on 1.5761.
Another similar result against the Swiss franc
Here the pound started on 1.4324 and ended the week on 1.4211.
Nothing but disappointment against the Icelandic krona
The British pound started the week on 186.858 but by the time Friday night arrived it was well down on 179.725.
So it was not the most memorable week in terms of good results on the currency markets. However the pound did manage to do reasonably well against the New Zealand dollar and the Australian dollar, so here at least the currency managed to do well. It just goes to show you cannot expect a trend to continue over the entire week across the market, because some areas may be easier to conquer than others. Clearly the British pound was not able to do well against the US dollar or the Euro, never mind the Hong Kong dollar.
Of course we are all experienced enough to know the British pound can have good and bad weeks, and similarly pitched performances. This is far from being the worst performance it has ever put in, although it is clearly not the best either. Make sure you come back next week so we can see whether this trend will continue, with a clear split between the good and bad areas, or whether there will be something else in store. We’ll see you next time.