Trans-Atlantic Exchange Rate Report for April 22 – 26

By: Ryan Slattery, The Quinnipiac University Economics Research Team

Trans-Atlantic 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.

From April 22nd to April 26th, Trans-Atlantic currencies showed varying performance against the US dollar. The Canadian dollar (red) appreciated throughout the week, except for a slight drop on Thursday, closing the week up by 0.82%. The Swiss franc (maroon) remained relatively stable throughout the week, with a minor fall and rise at the end, finishing the week down by 0.05%. The Euro (blue) made modest gains of 0.51% this week. The British pound (green) was volatile, losing 0.7% of its value in the first half of the week but recovering that and more in the latter half, closing up by 0.57% for the week.

Trans-Atlantic 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.

The appreciation of some currencies this week has led to significant changes in their values compared to their three-month averages. The Canadian dollar (CAD) has risen to meet its lower bound after trending downward for the last three months. The Swiss franc (CHF) remains steady below its lower bound, at a three-month low. The Euro (EUR) has also risen to meet its lower bound after experiencing heavy losses in the last two weeks, as has the British pound (GBP).

Further Reading:

British pound falls to new lows on Bank of England rate cut speculation

BoE’s Pill says rate cut still some way off, despite recent progress

Speculation that rate cuts would occur due to British inflation being roughly on target, followed by an announcement that rate cuts would not be happening soon, may explain the Pound's volatility this week.