The currency markets can be full of drama and intrigue, much like a good novel. But would we get a good performance this week, or was something else afoot?
An overview of the currency markets for February 13th – February 17th 2017
The week began with the British pound standing at 1.2462 against the US dollar. A rise to 1.2520 on day one made us wonder whether we were in for a good week. However, this early start gave way to two poor days to follow, which left the pound on 1.2417 by Wednesday evening. There was still time to make things up though, so could the pound improve? It did, rising to 1.2515 on Thursday, but another drop came on Friday, pushing the pound back to 1.2424 as it went.
We had a good start against the euro too, rising from our opening rate of 1.1724 to reach 1.1779 on day one. But again, we then slipped a little, dropping to 1.1751 on Tuesday. The rot didn’t last as long initially, with a rise to 1.1764 on Wednesday. However, with two more days still to go, it became obvious we were going to have a tough week against the euro too. By Friday evening, the pound had fallen to 1.1665 – the lowest rate for the entire week.
Our third look at exchange rates for the British pound this week focuses on the Hong Kong dollar. We had a similarly-rough time here, with a good result initially taking us from 9.6697 to 9.7150 on day one. But we then had two poor days, and this meant we ended up much lower on 9.6382 by Wednesday evening. Would we have further drops to come on what appeared to be an unsteady week for the British pound? Despite an improvement on Thursday, we finished on 9.6429 for the week against the Hong Kong currency, but we had improved slightly from the lowest rate for the week.
Next, we have the New Zealand dollar to contend with. We opened on 1.7350 here before rising to 1.7443 on day one. But once again, we had a similar pattern to the one we had seen elsewhere. Two poor days followed, dropping the pound to 1.7300 by Wednesday, and even though we did better on Thursday, the final rate of the week saw another drop. This time, the pound fell to 1.7276 on Friday, which meant we had another disappointing performance here this week.
Finally, we should check the standing of the pound versus the Australian dollar. Again, the opening salvo was a good one, taking the pound from 1.6303 to 1.6335 on Monday. But again, things followed roughly the same pattern they had elsewhere. We finished with disappointing news on Friday, with a fall to 1.6206 over the entire week. Perhaps we could have done better, but this was not the week where it would happen.
Notable events in the world of currency
Another drop against the Canadian dollar
Here too we had bad news last week. The pound began trading on 1.6373 before falling to close the week on 1.6249.
More of the same against the Swiss franc
Here we had some bad news as well, as the pound seemed unable to achieve anything of note. The pound began the week on 1.2509 and then fell back to 1.2409 by the time the week had ended.
Another steady fall against the Icelandic currency
Even the krona got the better of the pound last week. The British currency began on 141.492 before dropping steadily to reach a low of 136.992 by Friday.
We can see last week was a challenge for the pound, and not one it met with success, either. Perhaps we can hope for something better in the future, but it remains to be seen whether the pound will manage to secure better rates next week. We must simply wait and see what happens next… and whether the British currency can bounce back from a poor week.