Welcome to our latest currency report, which this time will take us into the last month of 2009. Last time we had quite a dismal week as far as the British pound was concerned. We managed to improve our standing against just two of the five global currencies we normally look at. And only one of those results was a good one – with an increase of 0.0363 against the New Zealand dollar.
Elsewhere there was just one other good result to consider, and that was a marginal increase of 0.003 against the Australian dollar. The other results all saw a decrease in the British pound’s value on the currency converter, leaving us with the question of whether we could improve on things this week.
We were just over half a cent down on the United States dollar, and over a Eurocent down against the single European currency. Add to that the loss of 0.051 against the Hong Kong dollar and you can see why it wasn’t exactly the best week for anyone thinking of going abroad to spend some money.
British businesses may have benefited in some way however, and with Christmas fast approaching some may well have taken some improvements to their business from that situation. But will that be the case this week as well, or will we have different results to report on?
Of course nothing is certain until we unveil the figures that were actually recorded. So let’s do that right now and see whether we have anything new to celebrate – or commiserate over – this week, shall we?
An overview of the currency markets for November 30th – December 6th 2009.
So here we go with our first look at what the pound was capable of last week. Our first stop is always America and the US dollar, so let’s see where we were left last time.
We know the loss against this particular currency last time was just over half a cent, but where did it leave us? The answer was on an exchange rate of 1.6409, so we would be keen to improve this to over the $1.65 mark at the very least this time around.
Did we do it though? Let’s see what actually happened.
Well we always hope for a good start to the week but we don’t always get it. This would prove to be an exception though, as by the end of Monday evening the British pound had upped its game to a healthier 1.6480. The question was whether we could keep that up and claim an even better exchange rate by the end of the week.
Tuesday certainly seemed to be pushing us in that direction, as we managed to add on nearly another cent to the exchange rate. This left us on 1.6567 at the close of play, and it was an encouraging position to be in after just two days of trading so far.
The question now concerned how the midweek point would pan out. Would it push us further up and give us even more to celebrate at this point? Or would we end up with a weaker exchange rate to take us into the second half of the week?
You would be forgiven for feeling a bit sceptical at this point, but as things turned out we had nothing to be afraid of. By the close of play on Wednesday the exchange rate had proved that the pound was in the driving seat. The US dollar was struggling, and it had led to an exchange rate of 1.6686.
So where would we go now? Could we possibly manage to succeed in going up and making the pound even stronger over the remaining few days? Or would there be a hitch in our plans?
Thursday did give us something to think about as it turned out. By the time the day was over and we were down to just one day’s worth of trading left for the week, the exchange rate had slipped back to 1.6630. That was only a reduction of 0.0056 though, so it wasn’t perhaps enough to really cause any worry.
Friday would prove to be the telling moment however. Would we increase our standing against the US dollar once more, or was there another decrease in store?
The answer, thankfully for the pound, was that we added a bit more back onto the exchange rate. This left us with a closing rate of 1.6653.
That meant we had added on nearly two and a half cents over the week as a whole, which has to be regarded as a success – particularly if you are looking to exchange your pounds for dollars anytime soon!
Let’s move on to Europe now and the European single currency. We were left with an exchange rate of 1.0999 last time and a loss of 0.0122.
Could we turn things around and achieve a gain of some kind this time?
The week didn’t start well as far as the pound was concerned, as Monday ended with an exchange rate of 1.0970. This was only a small drop though and it was still early days, so hopefully there would be an increase to look forward to yet.
Tuesday sent us back in the right direction again, although we didn’t finish the day as strongly as we had started the week as a whole. The final rate for Tuesday turned out to be 1.0990. Could we surpass the exchange rate we had started with and hopefully turn this into a result similar to that experienced in the US?
Things were looking good in that respect on Wednesday, as we managed to up our game once more. The British pound managed to end the day on 1.1058, breaking through the 1.10 barrier and giving us hope that we could stay there for the rest of the week as well.
We dipped back slightly during Thursday and ended the day where we had started the week as a whole – back on 1.0999. So were we destined to give up our position of 1.10 plus by the time the week was out? Or could we regain it yet again?
Luckily for us the answer was a good one. By the time everyone finished work for the week and was heading into the weekend, the exchange rate stood higher once more – this time at 1.1052. This was only just below the high point for the week, and it meant we had added on just over half a Eurocent over the week as a whole.
So far then we have two good results to celebrate. But where will the other three countries take us?
Hong Kong is next, and its own dollar managed to win by 0.051 last time around. Could the British pound manage to get the upper hand again this time, or would we sink even lower? Let’s see what happened.
Our starting point this time was 12.718, and a good start to the week would be advantageous as far as confidence is concerned. And indeed we got it, as by the end of Monday the exchange rate had gone up to 12.772. But could we do better still?
The answer was yes. Tuesday progressed well for the pound and by the time the markets closed the pound was further up on 12.839. The story continued in a positive vein on Wednesday as the exchange rate went up still further to 12.932.
So, all was going well so far this week. Would it continue though?
Thursday did throw a spanner in the works temporarily because the rate went down to 12.888, but luckily things picked up again very soon after
Friday’s trading got underway. The final exchange rate for the week against the Hong Kong dollar was 12.906 – and that equated to an increase of 0.188, which was another delightful result for the week.
So last week we saw three bad results by this point. This flies in the face of what we have achieved so far this week. So what does this mean for the pound’s performance against the New Zealand and Australian dollars?
Let’s take a look at the New Zealand dollar first. When we left it last week we were on an exchange rate of 2.3195, after adding on more than three and a half cents. Could we achieve something similar this week?
In actual fact we didn’t start on the best of notes on Monday. By the end of the day the exchange rate had dipped down to 2.3058. Was this just an early blip or was there
more to come in the same vein?
Unfortunately for us the answer was the latter of the two. Tuesday saw the strength of the New Zealand dollar come to the fore, and the exchange rate dipped down even further to 2.2826. We did manage to pull some back the following day but it wasn’t enough to go above the 2.30 mark again. Instead it left us on a rate of 2.2937.
So with just two days left to go could we turn things around and add another good result to our stash so far?
We did improve on Thursday to 2.2967, but unfortunately we had left things a bit late to achieve anything worth noting. By Friday night the week ended with the British pound claiming an exchange rate of 2.2961 – and that meant we had lost out on 0.0234 cents overall during the week. Finally we had a bad result to go with all those good ones.
So which way would Australia go? Would the Aussie dollar mirror the results seen in New Zealand, or could the pound make it four out of five when it came to good results this time around?
We were starting on an exchange rate of 1.8157, and by Monday evening that had diminished to 1.8048. It looked as if the Aussie dollar wasn’t going to be very different from the Kiwi dollar, but it was still early days. Could we hope for better?
We could, but we didn’t get it. Not on Tuesday anyway, which was when the exchange rate dipped down further to 1.7975. We managed to increase that rate ever so slightly on Wednesday as we crept up to 1.7982, but the following day showed that we weren’t going to achieve anything of note here this week. The rate we had at the end of Thursday was 1.7902.
And with just one day to go we weren’t too confident at managing to finish on a great rate. The rate we did end up with was slightly better at 1.7969, but of course it wasn’t enough to actually give us a successful week all in all. The total loss for the British pound against the Australian dollar was 0.0188. This meant the results of this time were exactly the opposite of last time. A good result last week meant a bad one this week and vice versa.
Notable events in the world of currency
How did the British pound do against the Swiss franc?
This isn’t a currency pairing we usually look at, but it was certainly worth doing so this week. From a finishing point of 1.6533 on Monday night,the pound upped things to 1.6647 by Friday evening.
The US dollar doesn’t do so well against the Swiss franc though
From a rate recorded at 1.0031 on Monday evening, the US dollar then went downhill as the week went on. It dipped below the 1.00 mark on Wednesday and never regained it, finishing on 0.9996 on Friday night.
Did the Swiss franc get the better of the Euro?
It managed it with the US dollar, but did the Euro fare any better?
Actually the answer was no. The rate went from 1.5071 on Monday night to 1.5063 on Friday night, proving that the British pound had the best of the action against the Swiss franc last week.
A story on the BBC website last week pointed to an event that doesn’t happen every day in the currency world – North Korea revalued its currency. You can read more about what happened and how it affected the inhabitants of North Korea by going here.
So there we are for another week. Will we have a week like it again next week, or will there be something else in store? We did at least get good results against the US dollar, the Euro and the Hong Kong dollar – even if the Aussie and Kiwi dollars proved too strong for us.
Join us again next week to see what happens next.
Currency revaluations are always a bit scary if you ask me. It always has something to do with inflation and this story about the Korean money is exactly the same. I’ll be interested to see how things fare. I can understand why they are doing it and what the outcome should be – but we all know things rarely happen the way that the confident governments say they will.
They’ve had a couple of weeks to get used to the new situation now though, so I wonder how they are getting on? Maybe they will be used to it already?
I agree with the above commenter when it comes to currency revaluations. I can’t imagine how people can decide how much a currency should be worth. There can’t be any right or wrong amount and yet I wouldn’t want to be the one having to make the big decisions. How on earth do they arrive at a figure that is deemed to be suitable?
I agree with the ‘confident government’ bit as well. Every government has to be like that, don’t they? And we all know how often they get things wrong. Positivity is one thing but you can still be wrong!