- QU Economics Research Team
Pacific Exchange Rates Report for April 8 – 12
By: Khadija Farooqi, The Quinnipiac University Economics Research Team
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 week of April 8th – 12th, the currencies exhibited varying degrees of fluctuation, all experiencing a significant increase midweek. The Japanese yen (maroon) maintained stability before undergoing a notable 0.8% increase, followed by a modest additional 0.2% gain. As usual, the South Korean won (red) displayed the highest volatility, initially rising marginally, followed by a slightly stronger decrease, then rebounding with a 1.1% escalation, followed by a steeper 0.3% rise. The strongest fluctuations of the week were observed in the Australian dollar (green) and New Zealand dollar (blue), which mirrored each other with initial declines of about 1%, followed by steep surges ranging from 1.5% to 1.8%, and ending with parallel downturns of 0.5%.
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.
During the week of April 8th – 12th, the currencies experienced notable surges that had not been seen in recent months. The Australian dollar (AUD) underwent a slight dip just below its upper bound before sharply rising. On the other hand, the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) saw a decline just above its upper threshold before also experiencing a substantial increase. Meanwhile, the South Korean won (KRW) and Japanese yen (JPY) both experienced minor fluctuations around this threshold, followed by less steep but significant rises. These currencies managed to reverse their declining performance from the preceding months within just this week. Hopefully, they can maintain or continue this upward trajectory in the weeks ahead.
Additional Reading