It hardly seems possible we are just entering April. Christmas seems like a mere few weeks ago. Time doesn’t wait though and as we enter the new month we have a whole new set of results to share with you.
An overview of the currency markets for March 31st – April 4th 2014
Here we go then with a closer look at how the British pound fared as March turned into April. The opening rate for the week against the US dollar was 1.6633 and this soon improved to 1.6648 on day one. The following day saw a drop back to 1.6630 though, so it was unclear which currency would end up with the upper hand. As it turned out this would be a week of subtle ups and downs between the two currencies. Indeed the dollar would be the one to eventually take the upper hand and the British pound ended up on 1.6571 as a result.
Let’s go and see whether a similar picture would be played out against the Euro as well. The pound started on 1.2088 and actually dropped on day one, closing on 1.2074 as a result. Things got worse the following day too as the pound fell further to 1.2059. It recovered to 1.2077 on Wednesday but then dipped again to 1.2052 on Thursday – the lowest point of the week. However the best point of the week was the last one, when the pound finished on a healthy 1.2096.
The week began with the pound bagging a rate of 12.903 against the Hong Kong dollar. Again there were a few little ups and downs over the first couple of days that resulted in the pound securing a rate of 12.923 on Wednesday. This was good news but would it be able to hang onto this rate? The answer was no, because by the time the next two days were over the pound was sitting on a disappointing rate of 12.855.
Next up is the New Zealand dollar, where the pound began the week on 1.9176. It had an encouraging first day, improving to 1.9261 against the Kiwi currency. However the following day saw a drop to 1.9178. The best news was saved for the last few days though, because the pound ended up soaring to 1.9463 by Thursday evening. It dipped a little to 1.9384 on Friday but it had still been a good week all in all.
Finally we have our usual fifth stop with the Australian dollar. Here the pound started on 1.7995 and improved to 1.8040 on day one, but then slid back to 1.8001 by Wednesday evening. There would be no last minute improvements here though, because by Friday night the currency had dropped to 1.7914.
Notable events in the world of currency
The pound drops against the Canadian dollar
Unfortunately it was not a good week against the Canadian dollar as it definitely got the better of us. We dipped from 1.8359 to close on 1.8265.
A better time against the Swiss franc
Here at least we were able to achieve something better. We managed to move from 1.4731 on Monday morning to 1.4799 on Friday night.
Another disappointment against the Chinese currency
Here too the pound couldn’t live up to our hopes for it. From a standing start of 10.332 it ended up dropping to 10.295 against the Chinese yuan.
This week was clearly full of challenges and the British pound could not meet them all. Perhaps the best result of all was the one we saw against the New Zealand dollar. This was something to focus on but it was one among a sea of disappointments by and large.
Hopefully we can achieve more next week and be settled with a better selection of results than we saw this time around. You just never know what will happen on the currency markets from day to day, but you can rely on us to let you know.