This week turned out to be quite a surprising one and an interesting one to review too. Here you can see the results.
An overview of the currency markets for September 15th – September 19th 2014
What would we find this week among the currency results? Well, the pound started on 1.6232 against the US dollar and very soon improved on that, rising to 1.6241 by Monday evening. We then had a drop on Tuesday but it didn’t last for long, instead rising over the next couple of days to close out Thursday evening on 1.6328. We then had another good day on Friday that gave us almost the best rate we had seen so far – a closing rate of 1.6340 to bring things to a finish for the week.
Over in Europe the British pound began on 1.2553 against the Euro. Again we had a good first day, rising to 1.2579 in the process. Tuesday once again proved to be a sticky point as the pound dipped back to 1.2512. However the remainder of the week was much better as the pound started to rise in value throughout the week. By the time Friday night arrived we were looking at a significantly healthier exchange rate. It turned out to be 1.2714 so we were definitely delighted with that.
Could we achieve something similar with the Hong Kong dollar too? It was too soon to say, but early reports looked promising as the pound went from a starting rate of 12.581 to 12.588 on day one. Tuesday disappointed again as the pound lost some ground – this was clearly the day to be wary of this week. However once again the remainder of the week saw a much healthier pattern being followed. The pound ended up rising to close on 12.665 against the Hong Kong dollar so once again we had a good result to celebrate.
Over in New Zealand we were looking at the first of two currencies in this part of the world. You can never tell what kinds of results you will get from this area; the exchange rates can be very different from those seen elsewhere. Here the pound opened up the week on 1.9878 and improved during the first day to close on 1.9890. Tuesday once again followed the pattern of a drop to 1.9852 but then the rest of the week got back into a much stronger pattern. By the time Friday night arrived we’d made our way up to 2.0068, having dropped back slightly from 2.0147 the day before.
Finally we had another good start against the Australian dollar. The pound opened Monday morning on 1.7929 and then edged up to 1.8002 by the close of play. It then dropped to 1.7942 on Tuesday before climbing once again throughout the week. We finished on 1.8208 by Friday night.
Notable events in the world of currency
A drop against the Canadian dollar
Given the results above you might be surprised to see a drop coming into action here. But the pound fell from 1.7951 to 1.7938 over the course of the week.
A better result against the Swiss franc
Here we did rather better, starting on 1.5175 and finishing the day on 1.5342. This was exceptionally good for the week.
A significant climb against the Icelandic krona
Here too the pound did well, as it started on 192.773 and ended on 195.220 for the week.
Sometimes we visit the currency markets and see the pound struggling to perform. However this week was rather different from some. The Scottish referendum took place on the 18th and with a no vote being returned, it would appear confidence in the pound was returned with it.
It will be intriguing to see whether this will continue in the coming weeks, or whether this was a one-off experience we shan’t see again. We will be back with the next week of results very soon, so you can see how the pound performed in the next few days.