Welcome to our latest report on the happenings of the currency markets. Would the British pound be in for some disappointing outcomes this week?
An overview of the currency markets for August 21st – August 25th, 2017
The week began with the British pound standing at 1.2874 against the US dollar. We hoped for a promising start and we got one of those at least – rising to 1.2879 by the end of play that day. It was only a small rise, though, and the next two days saw the opposite – falls that took us to 1.2806 by Wednesday evening. There was a little movement in the right direction on Thursday, to 1.2832, but this was not enough to put us back on an even keel. Instead, we finished the week in a disappointing manner by falling to 1.2823 on Friday. At least all the ups and downs were small ones, so it could have been worse.
Would it be worse against the euro, though? We opened proceedings on 1.0966 here, before taking what would turn out to be a prolonged tumble through the exchange rates. This tumble lasted for three days, which meant we were down to 1.0853 by Wednesday night. Thursday did produce slightly better news as we rose to 1.0869, but it was not enough to trigger a last-minute recovery. Far from it, in fact, as the pound slid to 1.0859 on Friday night.
So, with two disappointments thus far, would we see a third against the Hong Kong dollar? We began trading this week on 10.070 and did well on the first day at least, rising to 10.076. But we then followed the pattern we had taken against the American dollar, with two falls that took us down to 10.022 by Wednesday evening. With a rise to 10.041 on the next day, we hoped we would see something better, but we were disappointed with a fall to 10.031 to once again finish the week lower than we had begun it.
We never know what to expect against the New Zealand dollar, and this week we began on 1.7584 before rising to 1.7600 on Monday night. This turned out to be the first of several days of good news for the pound, as it rose continually throughout no fewer than the first four days this week. This meant the pound was on a much healthier 1.7776 by Thursday night. Despite a fall on Friday, it still finished in better shape on 1.7769 this week.
So, would that surprising news take us to another good result against the Australian dollar? Perhaps not, because the first three days panned out to be anything but good here. The pound began trading on 1.6263, but that rate had dropped to 1.6211 by Wednesday night. We then saw a rise to 1.6251 the following day, but even that was all but wiped out by Friday. We ended the week on a disappointing 1.6201, again representing a drop overall this week.
Notable events in the world of currency
A steady fall against the Canadian dollar this week
There was no place to hide for the pound versus the Canadian dollar, as it fell steadily from 1.6294 to 1.6038 this week.
Only a slight fall against the Swiss franc
More bad news here, but at least it was mild in comparison. The pound began on 1.2377 before falling to 1.2369 this week.
And another fall against the Icelandic krona
We had more bad news to contend with as the pound started on 138.757 and dipped to 135.746 this week against the Icelandic currency.
So, we were far from a good collection of great results this week, with just one piece of good news to look at for the pound. Perhaps next week will generate some better news, although it remains to be seen whether that is the case. We shall watch closely to see whether we could trigger some better results – and we’ll reveal all very soon.