Even before the ECB’s interest rate announcement on Thursday afternoon, the Stockholm Stock Exchange, like other European stock exchanges, had taken a big leap of joy in the wake of the US interest rate decision on Wednesday evening – an announcement that was interpreted as somewhat softer than feared.
As expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points and signals that the same amount will be added in March. It was obviously interpreted positively on the stock exchanges, with broad and large gains for several of the stock exchange’s heavyweights.
Stockholm Stock Exchange’s broad OMXS index rose 4.2 percent, while the OMXS30 index with the 30 most traded shares rose 3.5 percent. The best performers on the OMXS30 list were interest-sensitive companies such as the investment company Kinnevik and the property company SBB, which surged 17.2 and 14.1 percent respectively.
Electrolux collapsed
Among the winners were also the ball bearing manufacturer SKF, the live casino supplier Evolution and the engineering company Alfa Laval, which rose 11.6, 10.9 and 8.8 percent respectively.
The appliance manufacturer Electrolux went strongly against the trend, plummeting 9.2 percent after a financial year-end report that was significantly weaker than expected. ABB also received a sour reception after its financial results, minus 2.9 percent.
The leading stock exchanges in Europe also took them up a notch. The London stock exchange’s FTSE index rose 0.7 percent, the Paris stock exchange’s CAC40 index rose 1.3 percent and the Frankfurt stock exchange’s Dax index stood at plus 2.2 percent at 6 p.m.