Little appears to be rumbling on the surface in the currency world of Scandinavia since last week. Sweden still dominates the forex market with record gains against all of its currency rivals. Norway has been growing steadily as oil prices surge and Denmark remains hesitantly linked to the debt fears of the euro zone.
What we can analyze for future currency moves, however, is the happenings among the banking world of these Norse giants. Business headlines across the region have loudly proclaimed the rise of banking profits since the start of 2011, primarily Sweden’s.
Nordea Bank, the largest bank in the Nordic region, recently posted a surprise 15% jump in Q1 profits with a $1.1 billion surge. The sudden influx of capital appears to be connected with recent optimism in Sweden regarding its position of working to tighten monetary policy and further enlarge bank capital requirements for loans, analysts have said. A 2011 study also suggests that Swedes are among the Nordic region’s best “savers.”
Leading news in Denmark is targeting the scandal of a transportation subsidiary, DSBFirst, which bilked the public coffers and failed to report on the reality of its own financial chaos, all while failing to produce results on effectively managing public transportation. The company also operates in Sweden which has recently threatened to strip DSBFirst of its operating license in Sweden should they fail to improve upon their current performance record. The impact of this scandal is not yet known for the Danish body politic.
In currency news, the Swedish krona (SEK) remains atop the ladder for best performers of FY 2010-2011 thus far. The Norwegian krone (NOK) experienced a short dip yesterday as oil prices fell due to a sudden surge in the US dollar brought about by the optimism which rocked markets after the announcement that Osama bin Laden had been killed by US commandos in Pakistan. The rise in USD values was short-lived, however, and Crude Oil looks to be finding support as of this morning.
Should the greenback persist in its recent bearishness, which appears to be supported by fundamentals and technical analysis, then the Scandinavian kroner should remain ahead of the crowd, remaining top performers among regional and global currencies.
