Swedish Krona is paring losses after losing ground for a second straight session versus the stronger Pound on Thursday. The Pound Swedish Krona exchange rate jumped 1.2% closing the session at 12.1671, after Swedish business and consumer confidence plunged and after the BoE kept monetary policy unchanged.
Today at 06:45 UTC, GBP/SEK is trading -0.1% as at 12.1531 as volatility remains elevated.
BoE Ready To Do More
The Pound is pausing or breath after soaring across the board on Thursday. The pound jumped as the BoE kept monetary policy unchanged. This was hardly surprising given the two emergency, between meetings, rate cuts and the additional £200 billion in bond purchases.
However, the BoE did also say that it was too early to assess the full scale of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The central bank reassured that it stood ready to act again if necessary, to prop up the UK economy. These comments lifted the Pound.
There is no high impacting UK data due for release today. However, Pound investors will continue digesting coronavirus developments as the number of daily deaths climbed to 113 and the number of confirmed daily cases jumps through 2100. If the UK is on the same trajectory as China the peak will be 5th April with 260 daily deaths.
Swedish Business & Consumer Confidence Drops
Demand for the Swedish Krona eased again on Thursday following the release of business and consumer confidence data. The data was weaker than forecast, highlighting concerns about coronavirus and its impact on jobs and the economy.
Sweden’s consumer confident index declined 8.9 points to 89.6 in March. This was the weakest level for confidence since December 2012. Meanwhile the industry confidence indicator declined 5.9 points month on month to 91 in March, the lowest level in almost 7 years.
Separately data showed inflation expectations also eased to 3.1% in March, down from 3.4% in the previous month. The weak data saw investors sell out of the Swedish Krona.
Today investors could glance towards Swedish retail sales figures. However, given that these are for February, before the coronavirus outbreak escalated, they are not expected to garner much attention.
