Swedish krona poised for big jump next year

LONDON: The Swedish krona, the worst performer among the 16 biggest currencies this quarter, will rebound in 2010 as the economy recovers and interest rates rise, according to some of the largest foreign-exchange traders.

UBS AG has made betting on krona gains versus the euro one of its top trades for next year. UniCredit SpA advises buying options to sell the euro against the krona, Danske Bank A/S says the currency is below its true value, and Deutsche Bank AG sees it rising 6.6 percent versus the euro by the end of March.

"It's the most undervalued currency in the Group of 10 universe by any metric you choose to use," said John Hydeskov, a foreign-exchange strategist in Copenhagen at Danske Bank, Denmark's largest lender, which sees the currency gaining about 3.3 percent by the end of the first quarter versus the euro. "The largest potential belongs to the krona. The Riksbank will raise rates quite dramatically in the second half."