Pacific Exchange Rates Report for December 8th - 12th

By: Patrick Gorman, The Quinnipiac University Global Economics Research Team

Pacific Currencies Index

Source: Eurostat 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.

For the week of December 8^th – December 12^th, the Australian Dollar (green), the New Zealand Dollar (blue), and the South Korean Won (red) all slightly weakened in the first half of the week. In the second half of the week the Australian Dollar (green) and the New Zealand Dollar (blue) both continued their decline with the Australian Dollar weakening just below .5% and the New Zealand Dollar weakening just above .5%. The South Korean Won (red) rebounded in the second half of the week ending with a strong last couple days and finishing about .3% stronger. The Japanese Yen (JPY) had a sharp increase in the first half of the week and after falling a bit it maintained it gain ending the week about .5% stronger.

Pacific Historical Trends

Source: Eurostat 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 week of December 8^th – December 12^th, the Australian Dollar (AUD) and the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) continued their declines from recent weeks getting further away from their 3 month-highs and closer to levels last reached in early September. The South Korean Won (KRW) and the Japanese Yen (JPY) both strengthen over the last week staying around three-month high levels while not being able to push those levels higher.

Additional Reading

Won-Dollar Rate Tops 1,470, Highest Since 1998 Crisis

This article talks about how South Korean Won to Dollar rates have reached a level that was last reached in their 1998 crisis. They talk about what has happened for this level to be reached and what it could mean for the future of the Won and the South Korean economy.