Pound Swedish Krona (GBP/SEK) Exchange Rate Jumps even as Swedish Manufacturing Orders Improve
The Pound Swedish Krona (GBP/SEK) exchange rate is up around 0.3% today and is currently trading at 12.0001kr on the inter-bank market.
The Swedish Krona (SEK) fell against the Pound (GBP) following the publication of the Swedish industrial production figures for April, which rose by 3.4% in the 12 months since April 2018.
Today also saw the Swedish new orders manufacturing figures for April, which also improved against March’s -7.1% slump to post a 0.1% gain on the month.
Despite this seeming industrial strength, however, the Swedish Krona was dragged lower by weaker Eurozone figures, in particular this morning’s unexpectedly poor inflation results.
The Pound, meanwhile, is subdued today as US President Donald Trump is on a state visit to Great Britain, with the prospect of a post-Brexit UK-US trade deal being talked about.
As she prepares to step down as Conservative Party leader, Prime Minister Theresa May commented that US-UK relations could form a ‘great partnership’ post-Brexit, saying:
‘I think there are huge opportunities for us to do more together in the future and challenges to work on as well.’
GBP/SEK Exchange Rate Rises despite UK Construction Sector Contracting at Fastest Pace since 2018
Sterling (GBP) was held back this morning following the release of the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) like-for-like retail sales figures for May, which came in sharply below forecast at -3.0%.
These were followed by the UK Markit construction PMI figures for the same month, which missed the 50.5 forecast and contracted to 48.5.
Tim Moore, an Associate Director at IHS Markit, took a downbeat tone, saying:
‘May data reveals another setback for the UK construction sector as output and new orders both declined to the greatest extent since the first quarter of 2018.’
‘Survey respondents attributed lower workloads to ongoing political and economic uncertainty, which has led to widespread delays with spending decisions and encouraged risk aversion among clients.’
The Pound has nevertheless made gains against the Swedish Krona (SEK) today, despite the uncertainty surrounding both Brexit and who will be the future Conservative leader.
GBP/SEK Forecast: UK Services PMI Could Make or Break Pound Tomorrow
Sterling traders are looking to tomorrow’s release of the UK Markit services PMI figures, which are currently expected to improve.
The Deputy Governor of Markets and Banking at the Bank of England, David Ramsden, will also be delivering a speech tomorrow, with any dovish talk about the UK economy likely to halt the Pound in its tracks.
There are no further Swedish economic data releases for the rest of the week, with Thursday being a national holiday in Sweden.
The Pound Swedish Krona (GBP/SEK) exchange rate will likely be dictated by Brexit developments for the rest of the week, although the start of next week could see some downside pressure on GBP rates if the UK April GDP figure reveals a contraction, as is currently forecast.