Pacific Exchange Rates Report for Nov 13 – Nov 24

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.

Throughout the weeks of November 13th-24th, all currencies strengthened against the dollar and held their values throughout. The Australian dollar (green) saw the highest appreciation, closing on November 24th up 3% on the USD. After a comparatively slow start to the past two weeks, the Japanese yen (maroon) rallied, briefly surpassing a 2% gain before falling and finishing the week at 1.1%. The New Zealand dollar (blue) saw more sustained strengthening through the past two weeks, climbing nearly continuously, ending the week 2.7% stronger against the USD. Finally, the South Korean won (red) experienced a similar path to that of the New Zealand dollar, ending the week up 1.1% on the USD as well.

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.

For the past weeks of November 13 – 24th, there were significant movements throughout the Pacific region currencies. The Japanese yen (JPY) saw significant movement for the first time in a while, briefly surpassing the rolling three-month average mark. The large gains made by the Australian dollar (AUD) and New Zealand dollar (NZD) over the past two weeks pushed both currencies over their upper boundaries after sitting near their respective lower boundaries. South Korea’s won (KRW) continued to have a strong November, as it has sat near or above the upper boundary for almost the entire month. All currencies continue to improve against the USD in November after a weak October. Each currency now appears to be moving in the same, positive direction, a drastic change from only a few weeks ago.