The British pound is being hammered from most quarters at present. Here we learn how bad things got last week.
An overview of the currency markets for May 13th – May 17th, 2019
We open the week on 1.3003 for the pound versus the US dollar. From there, we lost some ground on the first day, falling to 1.2958 by Monday evening. At least we didn’t lose much ground. That said, we experienced more of the same the next day, dipping to 1.2906 by the end of trading. This turned out to be an unwanted pattern that would last all week. None of the losses were pronounced yet put together they led to a closing rate of 1.2722 by the time Friday closed the markets for the week.
We soon noticed a similar pattern playing out against the euro. Here, the pound started the week on 1.1573 before falling to 1.1545 on Monday evening. The biggest dip of the week would come two days later, when the British pound fell to close out Wednesday’s efforts on 1.1466. It seemed a gradual fall would be on the cards here too. This time, we ended the week on 1.1400 – another disappointment for the British currency.
We would expect the Hong Kong dollar to follow the pattern set by its US counterpart, as this is typically the case. Would that lead to another loss for the pound here? We started on 10.205 and yes, we did see a gradual slide in the position held by the British currency throughout the week. There were no large dips in that pattern, but overall the smaller losses added up to a closing rate of 9.9867 this time around. Friday’s closing rate was the first time we dipped below the 10.0 mark all week.
Our fourth stop takes us to New Zealand and the Kiwi dollar. We had a slightly different pattern here, although the only rise we saw came on Thursday. Even then, the rise did not wipe out the losses the pound had experienced up to that point. The pattern was clear, the experience was not good for the British pound, and it meant we were looking at yet another overall loss for the week. From an opener of 1.9696, the pound finished far lower on 1.9485.
One final stop to make now, as we see how the pound fared against the Australian dollar. We began on 1.8584 as the week began, and we did manage to rise to 1.8658 by the end of Monday. This put us in a stronger position to start with, but it did not last long. Instead, the pound lost ground across the week, finally reaching 1.8531 by Friday night. The only thing we could say about this performance is that the losses were limited rather more than they had been elsewhere.
Notable events in the world of currency
Another drop against the Canadian dollar
The pound opened on 1.7448 before falling to 1.7124 last week – a notable and disappointing fall.
A steady week-long fall against the Swiss franc
Progress was non-existent here, substituted by steady losses. The pound started the week on 1.3147 and could only muster 1.2856 by the end of it.
Another fall against the Icelandic krona
It didn’t matter where we looked last week. From an opening rate of 158.327 against the Icelandic currency, the pound was left on 156.417 by the time trading finished on Friday night.
It seemed disappointment was the key element in action last week. The pound could not manage to do well against any currency. Perhaps this underlies the issues and uncertainty surrounding Brexit at present.
One thing we can be sure of is our presence here next week to update you on the current progress – if any – made by the British pound. Unless there is a huge change in fortunes for the currency – unlikely given the looming European elections – we could be in for yet another disappointing week. Will that be the case, or will things get better? We will be here with all the answers.