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CURRENCY

Oslo buoyed by weakening krone

The Norwegian krone has weakened by over two percent against the euro in just 24 hours, as investors react to news China is in talks to buy up Italian state debt still weighing down the continent’s currency.

Published: 13 September 2011 11:45 CEST
Updated: 13 September 2011 18:03 CEST
Oslo buoyed by weakening krone
Photo: Katrine Lunke

The two percent fall in value for the krone against the euro came as a relief for the energy-focused Oslo Stock Exchange.

The country’s export-driven economy often earns euro while paying costs in kroner, and much of what is exported is high-capital industrial goods and raw materials. Currency and contract news lifted a diversity of shares out of the market’s state of loss: offshore construction shipping company Oceanteam Shipping was up 10 percent; offshore survey outfit Dolphin Group was up 4.8 percent and vitamins raw material provider NattoPharma was up 8.3 percent.

The instant volatility in the krone stilled the notion of a week ago that the krone was fast becoming a safe-haven currency. The euro had gained against the dollar, pound and krone by Tuesday morning.

By Tuesday morning, one euro was 7.75 kroner, erasing the gains of exactly a week ago, when investors nervous about the prospect of Switzerland buying foreign currency or printing money left the Swiss franc for the kroner in droves.

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CURRENCY

Coronavirus and oil send Norway’s krone plummeting to new low

An unusually sharp dip in oil prices over the weekend has left Norway’s already-weakened currency at its lowest-ever value compared to the euro.

Published: 9 March 2020 15:30 CET
Coronavirus and oil send Norway’s krone plummeting to new low
Photo: kjelljoran /Creative Commons

The depreciation of the krone increased late on Sunday night after a fall in oil prices, finance media E24 reports.

Against the euro, the krone had depreciated around 51 øre or 5 per cent as of Monday morning, E24 writes, putting 1 euro at a value of 10.95 kroner, most expensive price Norwegians have ever paid for the European single currency.

Additionally, the krone depreciated by around 31 cents or 3.39 per cent against the dollar. One dollar now costs 9.55, the worst rate for buying dollars with kroner since October 2000.

The further weakening of Norway’s currency comes when market uncertainty is also high due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

A breakdown in negotiations between Opec and Russia on Friday further exacerbated the problems facing the krone, according to E24’s report.

Just before 9am on Monday, oil prices plunged 26.68 percent to $33.39 a barrel, the biggest fall in oil prices since the Gulf War.

“It has gone from bad to worse. Oil prices have not hit bottom yet. If the supply continues to increase and there is a price war, that is going to hit the krone full on. This is happening on top of everything else,” Magne Østnor, a currency strategist with bank DNB, told E24.

READ ALSO: Why Norway's krone could keep losing value

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