On New Year’s Eve 2017, the currency markets closed for the year with the British pound on 1.3517. The first week, albeit one that was cut a day short because of the New Year’s Day holiday, gave us reason for some cautious optimism. By Friday night, there had been a marginal increase to 1.3551. However, that was not enough to make us think the month ahead could be a good one. We have seen marginal increases before, and they have sometimes been eradicated just days later.
It looked as if this was going to happen again the following week. That was because the pound slid to 1.3490 by Thursday 11th January. But just as we were getting ready for a disappointing week, something strange happened. On Friday, the pound finished in a far better position on 1.3639. That was a difference of almost a cent and a half in 24 hours. Would that give us an idea of how the next week would progress, or was that hoping for too much?
From that opening position on Monday 15th January, we enjoyed a week that was very good overall. There were two days where we saw falls for the pound, but they were far from enough to distract us from the overall picture. The pound was certainly making a good start to the New Year, and this week would see it end on 1.3868. That equated to a rise of well over two cents. Would this encouraging picture continue as the month wore on?
At the time of writing, the last complete week of January had been completed. From the opening rate of 1.3868 that week, we experienced four good days out of five. These proved to be the first four days of the week, and that took the pound higher still to 1.4254 by Thursday night. But even though we saw a drop the following day, it didn’t dampen the results that were coming in once more. The pound finished Friday 26th January on 1.4239. That amounted to another rise of well over three and a half cents for the week.
By the end of the following Monday, with just two days left to go for the month, the pound had finally dropped back a little to reach a closing rate of 1.4076. However, compared to the opening rate for January 2018 of 1.3517, it is clear the first month of the year has developed nicely. Can we expect this to continue, or is there another month of surprises ahead – and possibly not good ones? It is impossible to tell which direction things will go in from here on in. We are watching closely to see if the final two days of January result in more falls, which could indicate what may lie ahead.