Pacific Exchange Rates Report for Nov 27 – Dec 1

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 November 27th – December 1st, all Pacific currencies enjoyed a noticeable appreciation against the United States dollar. The Australian dollar (green), New Zealand dollar (blue) and Japanese yen (maroon) stayed within 0.2% of one another until about midweek. After the 29th, AUD saw a steady weakening against the USD with the yen following a day later, both currencies finished +0.7% and +1.1% on the week, respectively. The NZD held steady for the remainder of the week, closing at +1.7%. Unlike the New Zealand dollar, the South Korean won (red) was not nearly as steady, as it continually fluctuated throughout the week; despite this, by the end of the week, the won was up 0.3% on the USD.

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 week of November 27th – December 1st, the strengthening of the Pacific region currencies continued. Both Oceanic-based currencies, Australian dollar (AUD) and New Zeland dollar (NZD), continued to surge against the USD, going well beyond their own upper bounds. The Japanese yen (JPY) has fully changed its direction, going from stagnant against the USD to climbing just beyond the positive standard-deviation mark this week. This trend is not limited to any one currency, as the South Korean won (SKW) has strengthened, entering December above its own upper bound. The rally from mid-November has held so far, as each currency stays equally, if not stronger, against the USD.

Additional Reading:

JPY / USD:

This link looks at the movement of the JPY against the USD over the past week.