Norges Bank seen steady as inflation holds above 3% – ING

Norway’s central bank is expected to keep policy guidance broadly unchanged, with core inflation still above 3% limiting the scope for a dovish shift, ING’s FX analyst Francesco Pesole notes.

NOK supported as rate-cut expectations stay limited

“In the rest of Europe, Norway’s central bank announces policy this morning. We don’t expect any major surprises. The December inflation report showed another small rebound in both headline (3.2%) and core (3.1%). We still think the second matters the most for Norges Bank, and that any dovish turn remains contingent on a decline below 3.0%.”

“The Bank may well stick to its projection for only one cut this year for this meeting, underpinning NOK’s good performance since the start of the year. We continue to see more upside for NOK over the short term and overvalued SEK in the coming weeks. EUR/NOK could test 11.50 soon.”