The Swedish Krona is gaining versus the broadly weaker Pound on Tuesday, snapping a five day losing run. The Pound versus Swedish Krona exchange rate has rallied over 4% across the past 5 sessions, hitting a five-week high of 12.5133 on Monday, before closing at 12.4599.

At 06:45 UTC, GBP/SEK is trading -0.3% lower at 12.4223 as investors digest the latest consumer confidence figures from the UK and as Brexit fears return.

Pound Slumps As Business & Consumer Confidence Drop

The Pound is trading on the back foot across the board after data showed that business confidence tumbled in the second week of March. The data showed that the retail and service sector were particularly hard hit.

In a separate report, GFK data revealed that consumer confidence in the UK also plunged. Household’s view on their personal finances and the economic outlook declined sharply. The data was collected in the first two weeks of March, so before the UK went into lock down. This means that the data is likely to deteriorate further.

Brexit concerns were also back to haunt Pound traders after the EU urged the UK to extend the 31st December deadline for the transition period. Boris Johnson is point blank refusing to do so.

UK GDP for the fourth quarter is expected to show 0%, in line with the previous estimate.

Sweden’s Coronavirus Approach Questioned

The Swedish Krona has been under pressure recently as the government’s approach to handling the coronavirus outbreak remains in the spotlight. Sweden has kept a sense of normalcy so far during the coronavirus outbreak with restaurants, gyms, shops and schools still open. The government’s relaxed attitude goes against the recommendations of most. Fears are growing that the number of cases in Sweden will escalate sharply very soon.

The Swedish government doesn’t consider that lock down slows the spread of coronavirus significantly enough and added that you can’t keep lock down going for months. Currently there are 3700 cases in Sweden and 110. However, these number are expected to escalate sharply over the coming weeks

Investors will now look ahead to manufacturing purchasing managers index tomorrow. Analysts are expecting manufacturing activity to fall to 49 in March, down from 53.2. Given that there has been little in the way of social distancing and no lock down approach, the Swedish economy, so far has been relatively scathed.