• EUR/NOK accelerates losses to multi-year lows around 9.4500.
• The Norges Bank raised the policy rate by 25 bps to 0.75%.
• Higher crude oil prices also lent support to NOK.

The Norwegian krone appreciates further and drags EUR/NOK to fresh lows around 9.4500, an area last visited back in October 2018.

EUR/NOK weaker on Norges Bank, Brent

EUR/NOK dropped to fresh multi-year lows after the Norges Bank raised the policy rate by 25 bps to 0.75% at its meeting on Thursday, broadly in line with market expectations.

However, the Nordic central bank sounded more hawkish than expected following its upbeat assessment of the domestic economic growth prospects and after it acknowledged that rates could go up to “around 2.5% at the end of 2023.”

Also collaborating with the acute uptrend in NOK appears the recovery in prices of the European reference Brent crude, which surpassed the $123.00 mark per barrel earlier on Thursday.

EUR/NOK significant levels

As of writing the cross is losing 1.04% at 9.4643 and faces the next resistance at 9.6921 (weekly high March 22) followed by 9.9802 (monthly high March 15) and then 10.0978 (200-day SMA). On the other hand, a breach of 9.4514 (2022 low March 24) would open the door to 9.4176 (monthly low October 16 2018) and finally 9.3866 (2018 low July 10).