So here we are at the beginning of another month, and as such we can now look back on April 2009 and see what happened in the world currency markets. Now it is the beginning of May we are starting to get towards that time of year when people are thinking about going on their summer holidays. We’re not quite there yet, but we are certainly at a time when more and more people are getting more interested in what the currency markets are doing.
After all, if you are thinking of heading abroad you will want to be looking at a currency converter to see what the exchange rate with those countries is looking like when compared to your own. This could help you decide where you are going to go on holiday.
The US dollar had something of a mixed month against the other major currencies last time we looked, so it will be interesting now to see how it did during April. Did it find some extra strength to get a raft of good results, or are we going to discover a weakened dollar when we take a closer look?
With no more delay, let’s see what the answer to that question actually is.
An overview of the currency markets during April
The march of the US dollar – but was it good or bad?
The British pound put up a decent showing against the US dollar last time around, so what will we see this time? Did it also manage to get the upper hand during April?
If you looked at a chart plotting out the two currencies during April you would have seen something with plenty of ups and downs – but who ended up riding the waves and who sank below them?
March ended on an exchange rate of 0.6994 between the US dollar and the British pound. That dropped to 0.6950 on the 1st April, before dipping into the 0.68 region for a day… and then going down further into the 0.67 region. That wasn’t the best start for the US dollar, and while it enjoyed a surge back up (if you can call it that) to 0.6827 on the 7th, it went back down again the following day.
It ended up going into the long Easter weekend by bagging an exchange rate of 0.6813 against the pound, so it had picked up a little. Even then it hadn’t managed to get back to the level it had started the month on. What would happen next? Would it be able to pick up again or would it be struggling throughout the rest of the month too?
As the first day of trading after the Easter break seemed to confirm, it looked as if it would be the latter. The closing figure for that day was 0.6715, and on the 15th – the following day – that dipped even more to 0.6715. Was the weakened British pound actually putting up something of a fight against the US dollar for once?
If it was, it was about to come to an end. Because things seemed to start changing, and going in favor of the US dollar from the 16th April onwards, as we headed into the second half of the month. That was when an exchange rate of 0.6711 came to pass. And as the week came to a close on 0.6760, it certainly seemed to indicate that things could indeed be tipping in favor of the US dollar at this point in time.
As soon as things kicked off again on the 20th, the US dollar once again got the upper hand. By the close of play on that day the exchange rate was up to 0.6861, and the following day it was up again to 0.6871. It certainly looked as if the impetus that the US dollar had been lacking for the first half of the month was here with a vengeance now, and it was just a matter of how long the US dollar could make it last.
That week ended on a total of 0.6847, which was better than we had seen for a few days, although still not back up to where the US dollar had started from at the month’s beginning. There was just one week left in April, and it was now a question of whether the US dollar could indeed get back to the level it was at when the month had started.
Things did improve as the week started, and the British pound let the dollar in to claim a rate of 0.6862. But that was really as good as it got, since the last day of April finished up with an exchange rate of 0.6729. So it was really something of a tussle over the course of the month, with the British pound finally getting the upper hand overall. And as a result, the US dollar lost out on a total of 0.0265. Better luck next month, perhaps?
It’s time now to see whether the US dollar could pull out a better result against the Euro over the course of the month. Last time we left the US dollar claiming a total of 0.7514, having lost nearly four cents overall. Could it do better this time?
Once again it was a bit of a choppy chart, and although there was a marginal increase to begin with, the first week ended up by closing on 0.7448. Was this the start of a gradual slide, or would the US dollar end up finishing ahead of the Euro during April as a whole?
It clearly realized there was some work to do, because by the time it went into the holiday weekend for Easter, the exchange rate had gone up slightly to 0.7534. Not a resoundingly successful figure, but it gave everyone pause for thought during those few days of respite.
The first day back brought a marginal loss to 0.7532, but the following day things picked up again and that meant the midpoint of the month was pegged at 0.7591.
It still didn’t look like there were going to be very many big changes during April between these two currencies though – although as it turned out we were about to see some rather different figures for the second half of the month.
The week ending the 17th April finished up with the US dollar claiming 0.7658 Euros, and if you thought that was as good as it would get, there was more to come. The high point of the following week was 0.7732, although unfortunately for the US dollar things dipped back to 0.7557 by the time that week came to a close.
It peaked again at 0.7697, but the closing figure for the whole month ended up being 0.7532. So even through all those ups and downs, it had only managed to gain a miniscule 0.0018 during April as a whole.
Things stayed pretty steady between the US dollar and the Hong Kong dollar during March, but did that remain the same during April? We started from a point of 7.7502, and again it looked as if all the changes were going to be small ones. It went into the first weekend on 7.7500, so just a small drop in place there.
The following weekend, as Easter got off to a great start, the US dollar would get you 7.7504 Hong Kong dollars. It certainly looked as if we weren’t going to see much difference at all when it came to these two currencies during this particular month.
And indeed if you followed the figures right through the month the changes were miniscule, with one side gaining a tiny amount and then relinquishing it again. Which makes what happened on the last day of the month rather ironic, and it was slightly disappointing news for the US dollar.
It wasn’t a huge change, but perhaps it was because the figure we’d seen all month – 7.75 – went down to the 7.74 range, albeit only by a tiny amount to 7.7499. That meant the Hong Kong dollar got the upper hand and gained a tiny 0.0003 during April. It was more psychological than physical, that small change, but it did make a small difference.
The US dollar did better over the Japanese yen last time around, finishing up on 98.564. The first week ended higher on 99.873, before reaching the heights of 100.785 on the 6th.
It went into Easter claiming 100.241 Japanese yen, but that was as long as it would be able to do so. By the time the month ended we were back on 98.184 – meaning the US dollar had lost ground by 0.38 across the month of April as a whole.
Meanwhile, over in Europe…
As always we move over to see what happened in Europe during the month now. The British pound had a disastrous month against the Euro in March, as it lost some four and a half cents between the first day and the last.
But would April prove to be better or worse than that?
The first day of April showed signs of a fight back though, as the pound went up to 1.0862. And while it did manage to climb to a height of 1.1336 overall, the figure the month ended on was 1.1193 – still better than last time, adding on around the same that it had lost during March.
Elsewhere last month…
We don’t often look at currency pairings that include the Japanese yen and the Euro, so let’s do that right now. The yen bagged 0.0076 Euros on the first day of the month, and it managed to push that up to 0.0079 at the highest on the 28th of the month, before dropping back to 0.0076 again as April came to a close. Because of the exchange rate there, we always look at the changes made a few decimal points away from the zero, otherwise it looks as if there has been no change at all.
Elsewhere the Aussie dollar bagged 1.2329 New Zealand dollars on the first day of April. But things got progressively better as the month pressed on, and the week ending the 17th resulted in an exchange rate of 1.2629.
But there was more to come, and the Australian dollar made enough progress to be able to finish up on a respectable and impressive 1.2883 by the end of the month. That meant it had added on some five and a half cents since the first of the month. That was certainly something for the Australians to celebrate – if not the New Zealanders.
Looking forward
So we had some interesting results to ponder over during April. Some people are saying that the worst of the global recession is already over, but is this too much wishful thinking?
It could merely be that we are getting used to the situation we are in, and it hasn’t got any worse – although it may not have got any better either.
Many people are still looking at the exchange rates between various countries and deciding to postpone their foreign holidays for the time being. The exchange rates are often not good enough to really get good value for money, so it is better to wait until they improve somewhat so they can consider going away again.
It is always interesting and challenging to look ahead as well, to wonder whether the next month will bring better results than the one we have just left behind. May always seems to be that time of year when summer feels so much closer, and the worst of the cold weather is left behind. So might that mean we end up braving the exchange rates and going for a holiday somewhere anyway?
It could well depend on what those rates bring us during the next month or two, so we will be here as always to report back on how various currencies are doing on the foreign exchange markets.
We’ll see you next time.