Stockholm’s stock market opened Thursday with a rebound after Wednesday’s broad market decline.
Today’s main event is the ECB’s rate decision at 14:15, followed by a press conference half an hour later. Analysts expect a 25-basis-point hike to 2.50 percent.
At around 09:15, the OMXS30 index was up 0.48 percent at 3 274.03. Shares worth about SEK 0.9bn were traded on the Stockholm stock exchange.
The best performance among the market’s larger industrial sectors came from financials, up 0.9 percent. At the other end, energy was the laggard, down 0.7 percent.
Among the leading stocks in the OMXS30 index, Telia rose 1.4 percent while Nordea was up 1.3 percent. The weakest performer was Epiroc A, down 0.6 percent, while Hexagon B slipped 0.3 percent.
Defense contractor Saab is up 0.4 percent. The Netherlands has signed a letter of intent with Sweden regarding the acquisition of a Globaleye airborne surveillance and command aircraft. The parties have not yet signed any agreement. A Globaleye is a major investment, typically priced at SEK 4bn to SEK 6bn.
Store fittings company Itab is halting the implementation of a new group-wide business system and is instead opting for a solution based on existing business systems and shared applications. The decision will result in write-downs and provisions totaling SEK 244m. The stock is down 1.1 percent.
Housing platform Hemnet is pausing its share buyback program of up to SEK 600m. Hemnet says the decision was taken because the company wants to retain “full financial flexibility during a transformative phase”. The company has so far repurchased its own shares for SEK 189m. The stock falls 8.6 percent.
Defense company Astor has completed a directed share issue of SEK 114m before issuance costs. The subscription price was SEK 16 per share, an 11 percent discount to Wednesday’s closing price. The stock falls 11 percent.
Nordea’s gain follows Bank of America raising its recommendation to neutral from underperform.
BNP Paribas cuts its recommendation on Tele2 from outperform to neutral. The stock, however, rises 1.0 percent.
SB1 Markets drops its buy rating on Neobo and cuts the recommendation to neutral. The stock slips 0.4 percent.
