The Swedish Krona is resuming its decline versus the Pound on Wednesday, after strengthening at the start of the week. The Krona had gained over 0.9% so far this week but is paring those gains in early trade.

At 06:30 UTC, GBP/SEK is trading +0.15% higher at 12.4055, up from a 5-day low of 12.3968 struck overnight.

Boris Johnson Stable & In Good Spirits

There is no high impacting UK economic data for Pound investors to focus on today. Coronavirus statistics will continue to be the driving force for sterling.

The number coronavirus related deaths in the UK spiked to a record high of 786, taking the total to 6,159. The number of cases has increased by 3,634 to 55,242.  However, the government’s chief scientific adviser said that the numbers were moving in the right direction, even though it was still too early to call the peak.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care, his condition is said to be stable, good news which is underpinning sterling. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is deputising for the PM. Despite his lack of cabinet expertise, the Pound is so far satisfied with his performance.

Swedish Household Consumption Data Up Next

The Swedish Krona showed resilience in the previous session despite coronavirus numbers ticking higher. The Krona’s strength was partly owing to stronger than forecast industrial production data. Swedish industrial output contracted -0.2% month on month in February. This was down from the 1% increase in January, but well above the -0.8% forecast.

The data is from prior to the escalation of coronavirus, which means it is already stale. However, it does show that the sector was on a firmer footing that initially expected heading towards the coronavirus impact. Whilst Sweden has not implemented lock down, Sweden’s main trading partners have. This means that demand is expected to have dropped sharply in March.

Today investors will look towards household consumption data. Again, this data is for February. Analysts are forecasting consumption increased by 0.7% month on month in February, up from -0.2% contraction the previous month. Given that this is February data, it could be discounted as out of date.

Sweden reported another 114 coronavirus deaths on Monday, bringing the total to 591. A total of 7698 cases have been recorded.