Capital inflows during the Christmas period have been supportive for the Swedish Krona, which traded against the British Pound at a fresh 11-week high. During the first trading session of the week the GBP/SEK exchange rate settled at 12.2008 registering a positive gain of 0.30%. The Monday trading session saw the GBP/SEK quoted within a trading range of 12.3058 — 12.1596.
The Scandinavian currency continues to hold its strength against the Pound following the last week’s interest rate hike. The Riksbank has kept its promises and lifted the benchmark interest rate to 0.0%, ending a long-lived negative rate policy.
The economic news releases will slow down this week due to the Christmas season and reduced holiday trading hours. The foreign exchange rates are expected to experience lower levels of volatility on 24 and 25 December. The capital inflows that usually arise during this time of the year can stimulate some movements on the Forex market.
During the early Asia trading hours, the GBP/SEK exchange rate was seen stabilizing and trading around 12.2139 levels.
Elsewhere, in the UK parliament the Brexit divorce deal was approved with an overwhelming majority. The UK is on course to depart from the 28-nation bloc on 31 January 2020. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to “get Brexit done,” without any further delays.
Against the US dollar, the British Pound erased completely the post-election rally and now trades below the big psychological umber 1.3000. The UK still needs to strike a trade deal with the EU after Brexit, which will be the new market theme to drive the Pound crosses. The market sentiment surrounding the Pound remains negative as the UK economy is still struggling to gain traction.