Today represents the very first full working day of 2023 across many markets in the Western World, and already the currency markets have got off to a dramatic start.
The British Pound, which made a rebound at the end of last year from its months-long decline in value, has once again taken a dive.
As the markets opened this morning, the British Pound dropped in value against the US Dollar, diving from 1.21 against the US Dollar at 7.30am UK time, to 1.19 against the US Dollar just 2 hours later.
This sudden collapse in value has almost wiped out the gains made by the Pound during the final weeks of 2022, which saw the Pound begin to climb back up against the US Dollar from its lowly 1.08 value in mid to late September when it ‘bottomed out’ against the US Dollar and many market analysts were looking at the possibility of parity between the two major currencies.
Had that taken place, it would have represented an historic moment because the Pound has been the most valuable currency in the world since the mid 1920s!
It did not, however, reach anywhere near parity with the US Dollar and the Pound began to rise in value once again during November and December.
Today’s crash in value represents the Pound’s lowest point in over two months, which happened suddenly this morning.
Volatility in the currency markets used to be a very rare thing, and for over two decades until 2020, there was very little movement on the major currencies to the extent that entire trading strategies were built on the basis of low volatility.
Now, with rampant inflation across many Western markets, and fears of the UK’s economic policy for the year being a damp squib, there was a strong demand for the US Dollar this morning as the markets opened, resulting in this sudden gulf in values.
It appears that despite the rollercoaster ride that occurred in 2022, there is still room for a surprise sudden movement in the major currency markets.
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