We have posed a question for this week that seems to indicate the outcome will be a good one for the pound, but will this be true of all the exchange rates this week?
An overview of the currency markets for November 20th – November 24th, 2017
Let’s begin by seeing how the British pound fared against the American dollar. We opened trading on 1.3195 last week, before rising to 1.3246 to signal a great start to the week. It was not one we could maintain, however – two days of falls followed, and these took us to 1.3229 by Wednesday evening. The good news was the final two days of the week were more encouraging. That meant Friday’s closing rate was 1.3326 – and that was significantly better than we had expected, and much healthier than Monday’s opening rate had been.
The situation with the euro is nothing if not complex at present. Last week, the pound opened on 1.1187, and we followed that with two strong days to begin. By Tuesday evening, the British currency had improved to 1.1299 – more than a cent higher. However, this would prove to be a week of two halves in this part of the world. That meant the remainder of the week was far less encouraging, seeing three falls in a row. By Friday night, the pound had stalled on 1.1220 – although this was still higher than it had been on Monday.
We experienced similar progress against the Hong Kong dollar as we had against the US dollar. Beginning on 10.308, we rose to 10.348 on Monday, before enduring two falls in a row. That meant Wednesday’s closing rate was 10.333. However, we then had a much more encouraging set of results on the final two days. This took the pound to 10.406 on Friday night. Yet again, it had done enough to finish on a much healthier rate than it had started. Three out of three so far, then, but could we maintain this?
Over to New Zealand now, and the pound started on 1.9435 on Monday morning. We dropped very quickly to 1.9287 to end the day, before edging ahead to 1.9414 the following day. From then on, things were very different to what we had seen elsewhere so far this week. Instead of seeing rises to close things out, the opposite was true. The pound ended in poor fashion on 1.9362 – representing the first real loss we had seen all week.
So, would we finish in similar fashion against the Australian dollar as well? Here, we began the week on 1.7488, before rising to 1.7530 by the end of Monday afternoon. But again, we saw a pattern that was disappointing, and not unlike the experience the pound had seen against the New Zealand dollar. It dipped to 1.7450 by Thursday night, before perking up to close the week on 1.7487.
Notable events in the world of currency
Another improvement – this time against the Canadian dollar
The pound managed to do well overall this week, rising on four days out of five. This took it from 1.6840 to 1.6935 for the week.
A slight drop for the pound versus the Swiss franc
While there were more good days than bad here last week, it was clear the pound had more work to do against the Swiss franc. Overall, it fell from 1.3084 to 1.3072 last week.
Back to good news against the Icelandic krona
More good news here, as the pound started on 136.367 and finished the week in better shape on 137.137.
So, mostly it was a good week last week. It is rare we have a week where things are good everywhere you look, so we must accept how things went last week. Perhaps there will be more good reports to bring you next time around, but of course, a week is a long time in the currency markets. We shall be back with more regular reporting next week, to see whether the news is good or bad this time around.