The euro on Wednesday hit its lowest level against the krona in a decade despite a successful bond sale by Portugal as Sweden's booming economy provides an ever starker contrast to the troubled eurozone.

At around 1215 GMT, one euro could buy only 8.8347 kronor -- its lowest level since January 2001, according to data provider SIX.

The strengthening krona was largely unrelated to the Portugese bond sale and was rather part of an "ongoing trend ... continuing on the same theme that's been visible since the start of the year," Carl Hammer, the chief analyst in SEB bank's foreign exchange markets division, told AFP.

Speculation about a possible increase in the European debt crisis fund meanwhile probably played a part, he said.

The krona, which suffered badly as the global financial crisis hit in late 2008, has also been boosted by rising local interest rates.

They dipped as low as 0.25 percent during the crisis but today stand at 1.25 percent, picking up on the back of record economic growth driven by a rebound in exports.

As a result, the Swedish currency has in recent months risen along with the Swiss franc to become the star of the European exchange market.

SEB now expects the euro to fall to 8.60 kronor euro by the end of this year, with the low end of its forecast dipping to 8.27 kronor.

The euro hit its all-time low against the krona in May 2000 at 8.048.

"This is not our forecast but it's not impossible that this record could be broken," Hammer said.