Some Good Results and Some Bad for the Pound

Here we are again with another look at the currency markets and the position the pound holds against various other major currencies. From the US dollar to the Australian dollar, it’s time to take a closer look at what the pound achieved last week.

An overview of the currency markets for August 19th – August 23rd 2013

As the week got underway the British pound was worth 1.5634 against the US dollar. There was good news to start the week as the pound increased in value slightly to close out the day on 1.5645. It experienced another increase on Tuesday and reached a high of 1.5691 on Wednesday. However, it was downhill from that point on and by the time Friday evening arrived it was lower on 1.5545.

Would the pound have a disappointing end to the week against the Euro as well? Let’s find out, as we start on a rate of 1.1719. This increased on day one but it was swiftly followed on day two by a fall back to 1.1697. It didn’t stay in this territory for long as it recovered to close out Wednesday on 1.1724. This would be an up and down affair though – and one that saw the pound end the week on 1.1640.

So far we have two disappointing results, so would the pound versus the Hong Kong dollar give us another one? The opening exchange rate here was 12.123 and once again we saw a healthy series of rises during the first part of the week. This meant the pound had soared to 12.168 by Wednesday evening. It then dropped back for the remaining two days, seeing the lowest rate coming on Friday night with a closing figure of 12.056.

It’s time to turn to the New Zealand dollar here, to see what the pattern would be in this case. The opening rate was 1.9339 and this immediately dipped to 1.9290 on day one. Would this be a disappointing result for the pound? Actually nothing could be further from the truth as the closing rate on Tuesday was over three cents higher on 1.9628. It shot up again the following day to 1.9828, setting a pattern that would stick for the remainder of the week. The closing rate was an impressive 2.0003.

Could we repeat this feat against the Australian dollar as well? These two currencies often mirror each other so let’s see what happened. The opening rate for the pound was 1.7040 but we didn’t see the dip we’d had against the New Zealand dollar. Instead the pound improved slowly and steadily throughout the week, only experiencing a slight dip on Thursday. It soon recovered to ensure it closed out the week on a healthy 1.7319.

Notable events in the world of currency

A brilliant improvement against the Canadian dollar

Here the pound managed to improve from 1.6139 to 1.6428 over the course of the week.

A drop against the Swiss franc

It wasn’t good news all over the markets though, as the pound dropped from 1.4478 to 1.4384 against the Swiss franc.

Another drop against the Icelandic krona

Here too the pound was having a tough time as it fell from 188.394 to 186.786.

It is clear that the pound managed to achieve some good results last week, but they by no means managed to go right across the board. Instead it improved against the likes of the Australian and Hong Kong dollars, but it looked weaker against the US dollar and the Euro.

We must wait and see whether the pound will do better next week or whether this is the beginning of a long term pattern of struggling. History has revealed that you never quite know what to expect from one week to the next, so if we are going to predict anything for next week, we shall predict some changes. Quite what those changes will be remains to be seen, so we shall see you again then.