So here we are with the news and views from the festive week on the currency markets. How well – or badly – did the pound perform with just three days of trading to get involved in?
An overview of the currency markets for December 24th – December 28th 2012
So here we are in Christmas week and as such there were two lost days of trading for Christmas Day and Boxing Day. However there were still three other days where the markets were open, so we still have some news to report.
Let’s begin then with the British pound and its standing against the US dollar. Here the pound began Christmas Eve on a rate of 1.6223 against the dollar. By the end of the day things had progressed downwards, leaving the pound on 1.6168 to see in the festive break. Once everyone returned on Thursday, the pound perked up to 1.6180 before falling back to 1.6136 to close out the week against the US dollar.
Let’s move on to the Euro now, where the pound began the week on 1.2281. By the end of Christmas Eve it had fallen to 1.2232, where it stayed until Thursday. There was more bad news then though, as the pound fell further to 1.2196 before thankfully perking up to 1.2240 on Friday evening.
Now let’s see how the British pound performed against the Hong Kong dollar. Here it began the festive period on a rate of 12.573 before dropping back to 12.531 on Christmas Eve. This was getting to be a familiar pattern, so would things follow the same path for the remainder of the week? There was better news once the markets came back on Thursday, as the pound rose to 12.542. However this came before a fall back to 12.508 on Friday evening.
The pound began the week on 1.9686 against the New Zealand dollar, and this dropped slightly to 1.9658 before the day was out. There was better news on Thursday evening as by the end of trading the pound had gone up to 1.9737. However it dropped again on Friday evening, finishing the festive week on 1.9649.
Finally let’s see how the British pound stood up to the Australian dollar. Here the pound started on 1.5551 before improving marginally to 1.5553 on Christmas Eve. It did better on Thursday too as the pound went up to 1.5589 before dropping back to close out the week on 1.5535.
Notable events in the world of currency
A minor loss against the Canadian dollar
Here the pound dropped from 1.6077 to 1.6062 over the course of the Christmas week on the markets.
Another drop against the Swiss franc
When these two European currencies met head to head, the pound came off worst. It lost a small amount, dropping from 1.4832 to 1.4786.
But a better performance against the Icelandic krona
Here at least there was good news. The pound shot up from 205.737 to 208.021 over the course of Christmas week.
So there we have it – an interesting set of results despite the fact we only had three days of trading across the week instead of the usual five. There was plenty to appreciate during this time and the pound did well in some areas while having some more disappointing results in others. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the final throes of 2012 as we usher in 2013 on the currency markets. Will it do well in the first few days of the New Year, or will there be some disappointing results to bring you next time around?
Rest assured we shall be here to let you know all the results and to find out whether the pound has some good news to impart for the first few days of 2013. This year has indeed been a challenge in many respects, so perhaps we can look forward to some good results in the weeks and months to come. We shall see.