After a promising week overall last time, we were hoping for more of the same this week. Yet as we know, the currency markets can be volatile. Just how volatile would they prove to be for the British pound this week?
An overview of the currency markets for June 11th – June 15th, 2018
If we were hoping for a good start against the US dollar, we certainly didn’t get what we wanted. The pound opened on 1.3397 before dropping over the first three days of the new week, falling to 1.3336 by Wednesday evening. A rise to 1.3377 the following day gave us hope we might recoup some of those losses, but Friday gave us another loss that took us to the lowest rate of all – 1.3279 to close a disappointing week here.
Moving onto the euro, the British pound started trading on 1.1398 here. A drop on day one took us to 1.1340, and while the following day saw a marginal rise to 1.1341, it did nothing to bolster any confidence we may have felt. Indeed, another fall to 1.1336 on Wednesday seemed to indicate this would be a week to forget. How wrong we were – two better days to finish on meant we improved against the euro, climbing to 1.1452 as a result.
Oftentimes, the position against the Hong Kong dollar will mirror that of the pound versus the US currency. This would be proven once again this week, as the pound dropped from 10.511 to 10.466 by Wednesday evening. A mild rise to 10.498 the next day was not enough to prevent a drop to the lowest rate of the week on Friday night – a disappointing 10.423 here.
You never know what to expect against the New Zealand dollar, which is why we were not surprised to see a different pattern playing out against this dollar currency. Three out of the five days went well for the British pound, yet Monday was not one of them. We began trading on 1.9073, dropping to 1.9011 that day. The lowest point came on Wednesday – the only other day the pound experienced a drop. This time, it went as low as 1.8946. Fortunately, it had two days remaining to bounce back, which it duly did – to 1.9097, the high point of the week.
The pattern against the Kiwi dollar was seen once again during the week – this time against the Australian dollar. Here, the pound’s starting exchange rate was 1.7662, and again the lowest rate of the week was seen on Wednesday, by which time it had fallen to 1.7578. From there, we saw once again how well the pound can do when it has two days in which to do so. It ended on a high note of 1.7771 this time around.
Notable events in the world of currency
A fall and a rise against the Canadian dollar
Two poor-performing days followed the starting rate of 1.7409 this week against the Canadian dollar. However, the pound then turned things around to finish Friday evening on 1.7433.
Another good result against the Swiss franc
Here too, the pound put in a good performance this time. From an opening rate of 1.3190, it managed to experience three good days out of five. This was enough to send it to a closing rate of 1.3255 by Friday night.
Another slice of good news against the Icelandic krona
The pound didn’t just get good results against many major currencies last week. It also did well elsewhere, such as the rise from 142.135 to 142.808 against the Icelandic krona.
Sometimes, it is hard to know where to look to find a good exchange rate and result for the British pound. This was not one of those weeks. While it did experience some challenges, it also managed to score some excellent results here and there. Perhaps we can hope for the same again next week, although only time will tell whether that is hoping for too much for the pound.