Welcome back to another fact-packed report. Let’s get on with the information we have for you before doing anything else.
An overview of the currency markets for March 14th– March 18th 2016
So as we begin, we find the British pound standing at 1.4292 against the US dollar. This improved to 1.4360 on day one, but of course, we still have another four days to go. And as it turned out, the next two days were anything but good for the pound. By Wednesday evening, the pound had slipped to 1.4053 – quite a drop. Fortunately, the final two days of the week were rather better for the British currency. By Friday evening, it had recovered significantly to finish the week on 1.4487.
A similar mix of ups and downs was seen against the euro as well. The pound began trading here on 1.2887 before rising to 1.2915 on Monday night. It then slid back to 1.2701 by Wednesday evening, much as it had against the dollar. And again, we had two good days to finish the week on. The pound rose to 1.2844 by Friday evening, although this was not good enough to regain the opening rate we’d seen on Monday morning.
The pattern of one good day, followed by two bad ones and then another two good ones was in evidence against the Hong Kong dollar too. The pound began on 11.092 this week, before having a good day on Monday and two disappointing ones to follow up. This meant that by Wednesday, the pound stalled on 10.907. The good news was that it made the most of the last two days of the week. As such, the pound managed to get an exchange rate of 11.234 against the Hong Kong dollar by Friday night.
Last week, the pound did reasonably well against the New Zealand dollar. However, that didn’t mean this week would be as good. It opened on 2.1364 and rose to 2.1427 on Monday, before experiencing a drop to 2.1323 the following day. However, the pattern seen elsewhere was not followed here. Instead, we had an up-and-down affair that was very difficult to predict. In the end, it led to an overall drop to 2.1257.
Our last stop is with the Australian dollar. Here we started trading on 1.9029 before following the same pattern we’d seen against the US dollar. The initial rise took the pound to 1.9056 against the Aussie dollar, before a two-day fall saw it sink to 1.8939. While two better days followed, the pound could only summon up a closing rate of 1.9014.
Notable events in the world of currency
A drop against the Canadian dollar
Perhaps predictably to a degree, the pound did not have a good week here. Instead, it fell from 1.8941 to 1.8787 throughout the week.
Another fall against the Swiss franc
Here too there was disappointing news. The pound began trading on 1.4109 and dropped to 1.4024 by the end of the week.
Three out of three against the Icelandic krona
Here we saw a third drop for the British pound. It fell from 181.237 to 180.659 this week.
So we can see there were some troublesome times for the British pound this week. It managed to do well against some major currencies, but this was by no means the case with all of them. Indeed, it was an unpredictable week all in all, with many reasons why the pound was not doing well across the board.
It makes us uncertain as to what we could or should expect next week, as well. It could be that the pound enjoys a much better week, or that it suffers significantly. You can never tell how much various events might trouble the currency – or any other currency, come to that.
Rest assured we shall be here with all the relevant information as and when it becomes available. Come back next week for the next instalment.