This report will reveal just how well the British pound did last week. We have all the data for you here.
An overview of the currency markets for February 18th – February 22nd, 2019
With a rate of 1.2902 in evidence against the US dollar as the week began, the British pound was soon improving. Not just on day one, to 1.2910, but through the first couple of days. Indeed, by Tuesday evening it was standing at 1.3065. This fell to 1.3051 the next day, but while we never regained the height seen on Tuesday, we still finished the week in good order. By Friday night the final exchange rate was 1.3052 – more than enough for a good result overall.
Could we expect a good result against the euro as well? We would soon find out. The opening rate was 1.1427 and this increased marginally to 1.1432 by the end of that day. A dip to 1.1430 the following day might have given us pause to consider a slump from that moment on. However, that was not to be the case. Instead, we saw progress made throughout the week, albeit with the odd dip, that meant we finished the week on 1.1516. That was an admirable result – the second good one in a row thus far.
If we wanted to spot more good results against the Hong Kong dollar, we would not be disappointed there either. Opening on 10.126, we enjoyed two encouraging days that took the pound to 10.254 by Tuesday evening. We could not maintain that level through the remainder of the week, but we did manage to sustain a good-enough performance to finish on 10.244 on Friday night. This was considerably better than we had hoped for up to that point.
The New Zealand dollar presented another challenge, with the pound beginning on 1.8813. Once again, we saw an opening move that was positive, taking the pound to 1.8873 on Monday night. Yet there were bigger improvements to be had as well. The improvements continued through until Thursday night, at which point the pound was on 1.9191. So, while it dipped to finish the week on 1.9074, this was still good news given the starting point.
Finally, we go to Australia to see what is happening there. The pattern was very similar to the one seen against the New Zealand dollar. The pound started on 1.8074 and rose to 1.8126 on day one. While there were some ups and downs throughout the week, the overall trend was up. The best rate came on Thursday, at 1.8407, but we finished on 1.8309 overall.
Notable events in the world of currency
Better news against the Canadian dollar as well
The pound managed to rise from 1.7097 to 1.7147 this week. Not the greatest improvement we have seen, but it was still a notable one that took the pound in the right direction.
More good news coming from the Swiss franc vs the pound too
Here, the British pound began trading on 1.2959 before netting a series of rises that took it to 1.3066 at the end of the week. Another good result to be celebrated here.
Yet more to celebrate against the Icelandic krona
Even the lesser-known currencies were no match for the British pound last week. We opened trading on 153.414 against the Icelandic currency before rising to 156.074 by the end of the week.
This had been a positive week with little cause for concern in any quarter. Perhaps it would not last – we have seen instances where a good week was followed by a negative one – but it is still reassuring to have a good week when one occurs. The uncertainty of Brexit rumbles on and looks set to continue for a while yet. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens as we progress into March on that count. Will the British pound have its strongest (or weakest) days yet to come? We await further news with interest.