Finally it is time to review Christmas week on the currency markets, where the British pound had just three out of the five usual days to trade on. Were they good or bad days for the currency? Let’s find out.
An overview of the currency markets for December 23rd – December 27th 2013
As the week began the British pound stood at 1.6357 against the US dollar. We have but a few short days of trading to cover this week, so it left us pondering the outcome that we might be left with. There was little change on Monday as the pound slid back slightly to 1.6356, but it surged ahead the following day – Christmas Eve – to close on 1.6367 before the festive break. This left us with just Friday’s trading to cover, which saw the pound improve markedly to close on 1.6511 for the week.
Elsewhere the pound stood at 1.1978 against the Euro, and it eased back to close Monday evening on 1.1937 instead. Fortunately it perked up on Christmas Eve, rising to 1.1961 as a result. Finally it closed out the week by dropping to 1.1952 when everyone returned to the markets on Friday.
Let’s see how the pound fared against the Hong Kong dollar now as well. Here we started with an exchange rate of 12.684 and this moved very little on day one – edging back slightly to finish on 12.683. There was better news the following day instead as the pound rose to finish on 12.693 before Christmas. We then had a two day wait for the best news of all, as the pound managed to soar to a new high of 12.804 when things resumed on Friday.
Over in New Zealand the pound started on a healthy 2.0034, but could it stay there? The answer was no as the pound fell to 1.9931 on Monday before pushing back to claim a closing rate of 1.9993 on Tuesday evening. Fortunately we did have a nice surprise on Friday as we returned after the festive break. This marked the pound managing to rise to 2.0191 against the New Zealand dollar.
Finally the pound had to go head to head against the Australian dollar. Here the opening rate was 1.8453 and this fell to 1.8288 on day one. We did manage to regain some ground the following day, rising to 1.8336 on Christmas Eve, but we then had to wait two days to see what would happen next. The answer was good though – the pound finished Friday evening on 1.8533.
Notable events in the world of currency
More good news for the pound against the Canadian dollar
Here the pound started the week on 1.7489 and ended it on 1.7607, despite falling a little in between those two figures.
Not such good news against the Swiss franc though
Here we started out with a rate of 1.4689 but this soon fell to 1.4644 on Christmas Eve, before dropping further to 1.4622 on Friday evening.
Better news against the Indian rupee
The pound had more to combat the challenges here, since it started the week on 101.480 and ended it on 102.340.
Christmas week is always a little strange given that we only have a few short days to trade with. However this time around the pound has not done too badly, leaving us to wonder what the New Year will bring. It is perhaps fair to say the currency markets are not as active at this time of the year as they are throughout the rest of the year. So with a New Year beckoning how will the British pound react to the challenges that lie ahead?
We shall be back with the New Year report very soon, so stay tuned to read it and see how the British pound managed to welcome in 2014. Did it do it in style or does it have its work cut out to achieve the results we want?