We hope we will soften the blow of the bad news coming your way today, as we look back at the antics of the major currencies on the markets last week. How did the pound fare?
An overview of the currency markets for May 21st – May 25th, 2018
A rate of 1.3490 was in place for the beginning of this week between the British pound and the US dollar. It dipped for starters, taking us to 1.3417 on Monday night. Immediately on the back foot, the pound scrambled to regain its losses the next day, only managing to score a closing rate of 1.3449. Another dip was seen on Wednesday, as the dollar pushed it back to 1.3311. Although there was an improvement of nearly a cent on Thursday, it was too little too late – and we saw another dip on Friday too. The pound finished on a lower rate of 1.3336.
The picture against the euro wasn’t that good either. The pound began trading on 1.1451 here, before experiencing three bad days that meant it dropped to 1.1369 by Wednesday night. There was better news on Thursday as the pound edged up to 1.1431, but it was not enough to ward off a bad week. This was borne out by seeing another loss on Friday – this time dipping the pound to 1.1423. At least this wasn’t far from the opening rate as it stood on Monday.
Would we do better against the Hong Kong dollar? Early signs were not good, as the pound started trading on 10.590 before dipping to 10.531 on day one. We followed an up and down pattern for the remaining four days of the week, although the downs would outweigh the ups here. While the good days were quite encouraging, they were always followed by bad news. That meant Friday night saw a disappointing closing rate of 10.462.
Our fourth stop takes us across to New Zealand, where the Kiwi dollar would stand up to the pound’s efforts to bring home a better exchange rate. The opening rate for the week was 1.9523, before falling to 1.9431 by Monday’s end. We then had two further bad days, so the pound was reduced to 1.9302 by Wednesday night. It seemed foolhardy to expect a good result now, and while we edged up to 1.9372 on Thursday, it was not enough to produce a good week. Indeed, Friday had another disappointment in store, as the pound dropped to 1.9284.
So, would the position against the Australian dollar end up much the same? We opened the week on 1.7947, but that would turn out to be as good as things would get. Four out of the five days were disappointing, and by Friday evening the pound had sunk to 1.7619 – quite a drop.
Notable events in the world of currency
A marginal improvement against the Canadian dollar
This was a surprise, especially since the pound experienced a significant midweek dip. It did recover though, rising overall from 1.7261 to 1.7278.
Another disappointment against the Swiss franc
The pound opened the week on 1.3481 here, before falling to close things out on 1.3243.
Some good news against the Icelandic krona
We had to go searching for good news last week, and we found some in the most unlikely place. The British pound began trading on 141.311 here, and while it experienced that midweek dip we saw against the Canadian dollar, it closed on 141.421.
It is reassuring to see some good news last week, even though it took some searching to find it. Perhaps we can expect better news as the weeks progress, although this week has given us some doubts about that. In truth, with world events having an impact on the currency markets, we can never tell how things will progress for the British pound. Watch this space as we bring you more news about the pound and its efforts on the currency markets in the weeks to come.