Here we are, back again with yet another week’s worth of results. How would the British pound fare this week, after the struggles it had experienced last time around?
An overview of the currency markets for October 5th – October 9th 2015
The British pound stood at 1.5167 as the week began against the US dollar. The first day went our way, providing us with a slight improvement to 1.5179. However the next day we were back down to 1.5169. It soon became clear that this week would be one of ups and downs, at least against the American currency. Who knew what else might happen against the others? We shall find out more about that in a moment, but for now the pound had some other ups and downs against the US dollar. Eventually it finished on 1.5339 on Friday though, so at least that was good news.
Could we improve against the euro as well though? We began trading on 1.3590 on Monday morning, but we dropped in value throughout the day, ending it on 1.3509 instead. The next couple of days were better, taking the pound to 1.3590 by Wednesday evening. As you might notice, this brought us back to square one. Unfortunately the last two days did not trade in our favour. Instead the British pound ended up on 1.3500 by the close of trading last week.
Our third stop is, as always, with the Hong Kong dollar. The pound began proceedings on 11.754 here, before rising to 11.764 by Monday evening. As we know however, this does not necessarily mean things will continue to improve. And so it was, with a drop to 11.756 on Tuesday. We then had the same mix of rises and falls we’d seen against the US dollar too. All in all the pound managed to close trading for the week on 11.888 on Friday night, which was better than the opening rate had been.
The New Zealand dollar was next to try and give the pound a run for its money. The up-and-down pattern we’d already seen was in evidence here too. The pound began on 2.3659 and dropped to 2.3334 on Monday before rising to 2.3372 on Tuesday. From then on we had our fair share of rises and falls, before closing things out on 2.2902 on Friday night. That was quite a shock – and a total fall of some seven-and-a-half cents this week.
So would we have a similar shock with the Australian dollar too? Unfortunately we would. The pound began the week on 2.1568 before dropping steadily over the course of three days. This brought it down to 2.1182 by Wednesday evening. While it managed to rise to 2.1265 on Thursday, it was not enough to make a big difference to the outcome. By Friday the pound had dropped again, this time to 2.0928. This equated to a total loss for the week of over six cents.
Notable events in the world of currency
Another drop against the Canadian dollar
The pound couldn’t hold its own here either, dropping from 2.0080 to 1.9843 this week.
Another fall, this time against the Swiss franc
Here the pound started on 1.4845 before falling to 1.4741. At least the fall wasn’t as bad as we have seen against some other currencies this week.
Three out of three – and another drop against the Icelandic krona
The pound fell in value here too, dropping from 192.949 to 191.678 this week.
So there we have it – quite a disappointing week for the British pound. Most notable though were the falls against the New Zealand dollar and the Australian dollar. Those currencies often go in tandem against the British pound in terms of rises or falls, and this was proven once again this week – and not in a good way either.
We shall be waiting to see whether the pound can recoup any of those losses next week, or whether we have more disappointments to come.