USD/SEK settles below 2-week high, posts weekly loss

The USD/SEK currency pair settled below recent high of 9.7816, its strongest level since April 17th, as the US Dollar failed to draw lasting support from the latest solid US employment numbers.

Employers in all sectors of the US economy, excluding farming, added 177,000 job positions in April, slowing from the revised down 185,000 in March. Still, job growth surpassed market consensus of 130,000.

The latest figure also came relatively close to the average monthly gain of 152,000 over the past 12 months, despite uncertainty in regard to the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff policy.

Average hourly earnings grew 3.8% YoY in April, matching the rate in March.

Yet, the jobs report does not reflect the full impact of the tariffs, which the Trump administration imposed on April 2nd.

The data cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates on hold next week.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, factory activity continued to expand in April. The Swedbank Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at a reading of 54.2 in April, up from 53.6 in March.

It has been the strongest PMI level since May 2022, mostly driven by continued expansion in new orders and improved delivery times.

The USD/SEK currency pair settled 0.91% lower at 9.6449 on Friday.

The exotic Forex pair lost 0.35% for the week.