Sweden has been told the political price for snubbing the euro is to be frozen out of EU decision-making, but financial markets have shrugged off the "No" vote as a welcome end to uncertainty.
The resounding 56-42 per cent "No" to the euro in Sunday's referendum follows a rejection of the European Union single currency by the Danes in 2000 and a "not yet" from Britain.
"I profoundly regret this. I think it is bad news for Europe and bad news for Sweden," said Foreign Minister Ana Palacio of euro member Spain, while The Netherlands called it "a shame".
Swedish European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom warned Swedes of the "economic and political price to pay for remaining outside", echoing European Commission chief Romano Prodi's reaction to the snub to the currency used from Finland to Portugal.
Asked if Sweden would lose influence by staying outside the 12-nation euro zone along with fellow EU members Britain and Denmark, Mr Prodi told Swedish Television: "Certainly, yes."
Sweden is the only one of the 15 EU member states that is neither a member of the euro nor of NATO. Its "No" on Sunday contrasted with a solid "Yes" to EU membership in Estonia, one of 10 countries hoping to join in 2004 and the euro soon after.
While industry spoke of lost opportunities, Sweden's crown rallied on Monday from early falls on relief after a year's uncertainty.
"Traders are again looking at fundamentals - the foreign trade surplus, strong public finances, higher interest rates and prospects of economic growth faster than in the euro-zone," said Mr Peter Kaplan, economist at ABN AMRO.
But German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose country's budget deficit flouting EU rules was used by opponents as one of the main arguments against Sweden joining, said "the enormous economic potential of the European market cannot be realised without the common currency".
He hoped Sweden would come round to the euro at a later date but Prime Minister Goran Persson has ruled it out before 2013.
Sweden's "No", fuelled by concern on the left and among women voters especially that the euro would raise prices and cut funding for the cradle-to-grave welfare system, is a personal blow to Mr Persson, suffering his first defeat in a national vote.
But he vowed to stay in office and said Euroland's budget deficit woes made the timing of the referendum unfortunate.
The "Yes" campaign had been expected to reap a late surge of sympathy votes after the murder of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, a fervent pro-euro campaigner, who died on Thursday after a man stabbed her repeatedly when she was out shopping in Stockholm.
But Swedes, while mourning the popular 46-year-old minister, staged a grassroots revolt against the media and the political and business establishment, which sided with Mr Persson.
The euro eased half a cent to 1.1257 against the dollar in early trade after the Swedish "No". The crown hit two-week lows in early trade but had recovered to 9.1333 against the euro, only slightly below Friday's close.