Euro Sees Bullish Week against SEK and NOK

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The last week saw the euro make fairly significant gains against the SEK, while it slowed down its recent bullish trend against the NOK. This was largely due to the likelihood that the euro-zone will raise interest rates next month. The prospect of a euro-zone interest rate hike seems to be overshadowing the recent renewal in sovereign debt worries that has plagued the region as of late and has caused investors to flock back to the 17-nation single currency.

Over the last week, the EUR/SEK pair has shot up close to 1200 pips, and is currently trading around the 8.9735 level. The heavy bullish behavior the EUR/NOK saw at the beginning of the month seems to have tapered off, and the pair was only able to gain about 200 pips over the last seven days. Currently the pair is trading at 7.8930.

Against the US dollar the Scandinavian currencies have been fairly steady since last week. Analysts attribute the inactivity to a lack of significant US economic news as of late. This is all likely to change starting tomorrow when the US ADP Non-Farm Employment Change figure is released. The figure is one of the more significant US indicators, and is considered an accurate predictor of Friday’s all important Non-Farms payrolls figure.

At the moment, analysts are predicting a slight decline in the number of jobs added in the US since last month. If true, the Scandinavian currencies could capitalize on the news and see some short term gains against the dollar in the next few days. Against the euro, traders will want to pay attention to news regarding any future increase in interest rates. Confirmation of a rate hike is likely to lead to bearish week for the kroner.