The initial response to the attacks in Oslo last week was a quick sell-off in Norwegian assets as investors fled uncertainty. The show of support by the Norwegian public, and solid economic numbers, however, has helped the Scandinavian giant regain much of its initial losses, and then some.
Reports by Norway’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) this week revealed an uptick beyond analyst forecasts and polls. Several forecasts had put the numbers between 55.5 and 56.1. The actual results, which came out at 56.5, trounced the expected range. Forecasters are also expecting the unemployment rate to hold steady at 3.4% in Norway come Thursday. These data reports are helping to drive many investors back into their Norwegian assets.
Assisting the Norwegian kroner’s (NOK) ascent this week is also a sentiment favoring commodity-linked currencies due to risk aversion in the global economy. Though oil prices have tumbled back towards $95 a barrel in recent days, the overall upwardly-trending strength of oil has remained a staunch price support for the NOK, and appears that it will continue to do so in the days ahead.
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