We never quite know what to expect when we review the currency markets to check the pound’s position each week. That holds true this week too – and there were a few surprises in store.
An overview of the currency markets for May 7th – May 11th, 2018
The week got underway with the pound standing at 1.3564 against the American dollar. We hardly had the best of starts either, thanks to a drop over the first two days that took us to 1.3499 by Tuesday evening. We did manage to recover admirably on Wednesday, reaching the highest rate so far this week on 1.3584. Unfortunately, we had little time to continue celebrating that, with a drop to 1.3526 the following day. With just one day left to see how the pound would fare overall this week, it was a surprise to see another improvement. By Friday night, we had recovered most (if not all) the losses of the week, finishing on 1.3561.
Could we do better against the euro, we wondered? With an opening rate of 1.1333, we enjoyed three encouraging days to start the week. This took us to 1.1435 by the time Wednesday evening arrived. You might guess the final two days ruined all that good work, but while we did experience a fall over that period, it didn’t wipe out all the good news. Instead, we finished slightly better off on 1.1363.
Over in Hong Kong, the pound began trading on 10.647 before seeing that same two-day drop we’d seen against the US dollar. This rounded off Tuesday on 10.596. The remainder of the week saw two good days with a bad one sandwiched in between. The good was not quite enough to wipe out the bad this week, although the losses turned out to be minimal. The pound ended Friday night on 10.645.
We never know what the picture will be against the New Zealand dollar, but we managed to get the better of the Kiwi currency this time around. We dipped on day one, going from 1.9342 to 1.9330, before enjoying three solid days that took us to 1.9523 by Thursday evening. While we fell back to 1.9443 on Friday, it was still better than our starting position had been.
Finally, we opened the week on 1.8037 against the Australian dollar. This proved to be an interesting week, because the first three days were excellent, taking us to 1.8209 by Wednesday night after three good days. However, just two days were all that was required to cancel out that good work. Fortunately, the overall loss was minimal, as the pound ended the week on 1.7955.
Notable events in the world of currency
Another drop against the Canadian dollar
There was a big dip here last week, as the pound slid from 1.7464 to 1.7269 overall. That was a disappointment, although not exactly a surprise. It was a larger dip than we may have guessed at though.
A mild improvement against the Swiss franc this week
We had some good news here anyway, as the pound edged ahead from 1.3543 to 1.3560 this week against the Swiss currency.
Another slight improvement against the Icelandic krona
Our opening position here was 138.801, but we managed to edge ahead to 139.090 by the end of the week. At least we managed to achieve something, albeit against a smaller currency.
So, we had some mixed blessings this week, with hard work completed in some quarters to achieve some small improvements, and dips against other currencies. We never know what to expect when we look at the currency markets, and this week is no different. However, we will look forward to next week with interest, to see if the British pound can recoup any of the mild losses it stored up this week. Perhaps we can get some better news overall, unless that is too much to hope for. What will occur next? Only time will tell what might happen on that front. We will be back with more news next week.