Pacific Exchange Rates Report for December 4 - 8

By: The Quinnipiac University Economics Research Team, Dan Hogan   

Pacific Currencies Index 

Source: Yahoo Finance and own calculations. Exchange rates are inverted to be USD per local currency (i.e., an increase indicates a stronger domestic currency) and then indexed to be 100 at the start of the period. 

During the week of December 4th- 8th, the Pacific region currencies saw a mixed performance against the USD. Both the Australian dollar (green) and New Zealand dollar (blue) moved almost perfectly in tandem, peaking early in the week before falling to finish about dead even on the week against the US dollar. The Japanese yen (maroon) however, saw drastic gains in the final stretches of the week, appreciating about 2.7% against the USD. To round out the group, the South Korean won (red) saw continuous depreciation against the dollar, finishing at –1.2% on the week.  

Pacific Historical Trends 

Source: Yahoo Finance and own calculations. Exchange rates are inverted to be USD per local currency (i.e., an increase indicates a stronger domestic currency. The center line is a rolling three-month average. The upper and lower boundaries are the average plus and average minus one standard deviation, respectively, for the same three-month period. 

Over the past week of December 4th to 8th, all currencies remained well above their three-month rolling average. The yen (JPY) spiked again, for the second time in the past few weeks, continuing its months long rally against the dollar. As for the Korean won (KRW) , it remains sitting at a similar level that is has for the past few weeks, after the dramatic appreciation about a month ago. The New Zealand (NZD) and Australian dollar (AUD) sit comfortably above their upper bounds, as they continue to appreciate from its lows in October. Throughout the region, the levels remain relatively consistent after quickly strengthening against the USD in early November. While no currency is trending in any particular direction, they have all recovered the value the lost in the fall.