This would not be one of those weeks where everything went our way. Instead, it would be a week that produced mostly disappointing results, as we are about to find out.
An overview of the currency markets for June 25th – June 29th, 2018
So, the week began with the British pound on 1.3287 against the American dollar. This edged up slightly to 1.3289 on Monday, so it didn’t give us much to go on regarding how the week would pan out. We had three days of bad news following that minor rise though, which meant the pound ended up far lower on 1.3085 come Thursday evening. It recovered slightly to end the week on 1.3157, but it had still lost a cent over the week.
This made us wonder how the British pound would fare elsewhere. As it turned out, we were right to wonder. The pound was worth 1.1407 against the euro at the start of the week, but every single day brought bad news our way. With a steady series of drops in store for the pound, it ended up on 1.1286 by the time the week was up. There was no good news to be found there at all, it seemed.
We often see the pound vs the Hong Kong dollar following the same pattern it had against the US dollar. That seemed to be the case this week too. The pound began on an exchange rate of 10.425, rising marginally to hit 10.428 by Monday night. The expected slew of three poor days, just as we had seen against the US dollar, then took place, knocking us back to 10.269 by Thursday evening. We got a boost on Friday to 10.323, but it meant we were lower for the week once again.
Could we find better news by heading to New Zealand to find out what happened there? Well, we started on 1.9255 and dropped to 1.9249 on Monday, so it was not the most promising of beginnings. However, the week then took a turn for the better, with four good days following on from that position. Indeed, by the time trading finished on Friday, the pound was in much better shape, finishing the week on an encouraging 1.9465 exchange rate.
Since the pound versus the Australian dollar often mirrors the pattern against the Kiwi dollar, we were right to feel encouraged at this point. However, this week would prove an exception to the likely pattern we may have expected. Opening on 1.7887, the exchange rate dropped to 1.7880 on Monday evening before bouncing back to 1.7897 the next day. From then on, though, everything was downhill. We ended up on a closing rate of 1.7817, so it seemed the New Zealand dollar was the only major currency we did better against this week.
Notable events in the world of currency
A fall against the Canadian dollar
We were half expecting this, as the pound began trading on 1.7634 before falling to hit 1.7427 by the time the week was over.
Another series of steady drops day to day against the Swiss franc
Here too, there was more bad news this time around. The pound began on 1.3157 but could only muster an exchange rate of 1.3056 by Friday evening.
No good news against the Icelandic krona either
It was clear the pound was struggling over the last few days – something that became apparent once again where the Icelandic currency was concerned. The pound started on 144.416 before dropping each day to hit a low of 139.269 on Friday night.
Finding some good news was not easy this time around. The sole bright spot in a week of poor results was the outcome against the Kiwi dollar. The US dollar, the euro, and the Hong Kong dollar all got the better of the British pound.
Could we hope for the tide to turn or will we end up with more bad news to come next week? We will be here with all the news when we have it.