swedish-krona-coins -and-bank-notes - SEK

The pound is paring losses after a steep sell off in the previous session.

The pound dived 0.9% versus the Swedish Krona on Thursday as Boris Johnson brought back the no trade deal Brexit threat. GBP/SEK exchange rate is trading 0.6% higher at 12.5111 at 06:00 UTC on Friday.

Slew Of Swedish Data

The Swedish Krona pushed northwards for a second straight session on Thursday on the back of upbeat economic data. There was a raft of data released from Sweden in the previous session which painted the Swedish economy in a better light than what analysts had been anticipating.

Sweden’s consumer confidence index increased to 98.5 in February, an impressive jump up from an upwardly revised 92.7 in January. This was ahead of analysts’ forecasts of 98.2.

A separate report showed that Sweden recorded a SEK 9.9 billion trade surplus in January, significantly wider than the SEK 1 billion surplus a year earlier. This is the highest that the trade surplus has been in almost a decade.

Adding to the good news, retail sales rose 0.9% month on month in January, reversing a -0.9% decline in December, whilst besting expectations of a fall.

The only area of weakness highlighted in the barrage of results was a fall in producer prices. Producer prices measure inflation at wholesale level and economists often consider them a good lead indicator for consumer inflation.  Producer prices fell to 113.2 in January, down from 114.3 in December. This points to a potential softening in inflation down the line.

This weeks raft of data doesn’t end there. Today investors will be looking to Sweden GDP figures for further clues over the health of the economy. Analysts expect the economy to see a slow in growth to 0.2% quarter on quarter, down from 0.3%. Annually the rate is expected to slip to 0.8%, down from 1.6%.

Brexit Drags On Pound

The pound plummeted in the previous session and any gains going forward are likely to be limited after Boris Johnson renewed his threat of a no trade deal Brexit. Boris Johnson threatening to walk away from trade talks in June if insufficient progress has been made, brought the reality of a hard exit on WTO rules closer. This would be a considerable step down from the current arrangement, with the government forecasting an 8% hit to the economy over 15 years. The pound fell steeply on the news, although is showing signs of paring those losses in early trade on Friday.


Currencylive.com is a news site only and not a currency trading platform.
Currencylive.com is a site operated by TransferWise Inc. (“We”, “Us”), a Delaware Corporation. We do not guarantee that the website will operate in an uninterrupted or error-free manner or is free of viruses or other harmful components. The content on our site is provided for general information only and is not intended as an exhaustive treatment of its subject. We expressly disclaim any contractual or fiduciary relationship with you on the basis of the content of our site, any you may not rely thereon for any purpose. You should consult with qualified professionals or specialists before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up to date, and DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some of the content posted on this site has been commissioned by Us, but is the work of independent contractors. These contractors are not employees, workers, agents or partners of TransferWise and they do not hold themselves out as one. The information and content posted by these independent contractors have not been verified or approved by Us. The views expressed by these independent contractors on currencylive.com do not represent our views.