FOREX-Swedish crown jumps after central bank keeps rates unchanged

* Dollar stead against major currencies ahead of Fed, ECB
* Oil price drop weighs on sentiment
* Aussie slips, other majors rangebound
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

By Tom Wilson
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - The Swedish crown climbed to a
six-week high against the euro after its central bank held
interest rates steady.
The Riksbank held its benchmark rate unchanged at 0%, as
expected, making no major changes to the package of measures it
has launched to cushion the blow from the coronavirus outbreak
on the economy, but said it was ready to do more if needed.
The crown EURSEK=D3 rose as much as 0.5% against the euro
to 10.7815, its highest since mid-March. Against the dollar
SEK=D3 it jumped 0.7% to a two-week high, and was last trading
at 9.9565.
Unlike the majority of central bank's around the world, the
Riksbank has held its benchmark rate unchanged, arguing that it
is better to focus on credit supply and to counteract a rise in
interest rates to households and companies.
The Swedish currency was the major mover held steady on
Tuesday as investors bided time ahead of policy meetings by the
U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank later this week,
with a fresh fall in oil prices also subduing riskier bets.
The greenback was a tad softer against a basket of
currencies =USD at 99.970 - around where it has been parked
for the last month. It was a weaker against the yen JPY= at
107.055 yen per dollar and flat against the euro EUR=EBS at
$1.08697.
A 5% drop in benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 and a 20% drop in
U.S. crude CLc1 offered ill omens for global demand.
Markets are looking for any forward guidance from the Fed,
which meets later on Tuesday and is due to issue a statement on
Wednesday. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday.
The Fed has led the global monetary policy response to the
coronavirus pandemic by cutting interest rates to zero and
aggressively buying bonds and corporate credit - a program it
extended overnight to include municipal debt of smaller U.S.
cities. Analysts said it was unlikely that the Fed would make
further major policy moves, given the scope and depth of recent
action to counter the economic damage caused by COVID-19.
"The major central banks are at comparatively expansionary
levels. All of them have beefed up asset purchases as much as
they could. All of them are close to or even at the minimum
lower interest rate bound," wrote Thu Lan Nguyen, an analyst at
Commerzbank.
"They are likely to remain there for the foreseeable future,
which would point towards relatively stable exchange rates."
The ECB has had less room to manoeuvre on rates and
announced an enormous bond-buying program. Still, bickering and
indecision over a eurozone rescue package has some in the market
expecting deeper action still, perhaps as soon as Thursday.
That has seen the euro left behind as expectations for an
economic recovery from the pandemic has pressured the U.S.
dollar and driven a rally in riskier currencies such as the
Australian dollar.
Still, the fresh fall in oil put the brakes on the charging
Aussie AUD=D3 , which had climbed more than 1% earlier and has
recovered nearly a fifth from a 17-year low struck last month.
Elsewhere the pound GBP= gained 0.3% to $1.2456, having
earlier been pressured after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned
it was too dangerous to relax a strict lockdown in Britain.