Sweden's equity market finished in negative territory on Wednesday, with the OMX Stockholm 30 down 0.16% at the close of trading in Stockholm. Declines across Basic Materials, Healthcare and Industrials were the primary contributors to the day's downward pressure on the index.
Market breadth favored the downside: 428 stocks fell versus 299 that advanced, while 73 shares ended unchanged on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
Top and bottom performers
Leading the winners on the OMX Stockholm 30 was ABB Ltd (ST:ABB), which climbed 3.76% - adding 32.60 points - to finish at 900.20. The session marked a new all-time high for ABB, which closed at that level.
Other notable gainers included Tele2 AB (ST:TEL2b), which added 2.70% or 5.00 points to close at 189.90, and Epiroc AB Class A (ST:EPIRa), up 1.09% or 2.70 points to 251.50 in late trade.
On the downside, AB SKF B (ST:SKFb) lost 3.88% or 9.30 points to close at 230.50. Alfa Laval AB (ST:ALFA) slipped 3.35% - a decline of 19.00 points - to end the session at 548.00. H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB B (ST:HMb) also fell, down 2.14% or 3.80 points to 173.90.
Commodities and currency moves
Commodities saw mixed gains. Crude oil for June delivery rose 3.85%, an increase of 3.45, to $93.12 per barrel. Brent oil for June delivery advanced 3.43% or 3.38 to reach $101.86 a barrel. Precious metals moved higher as well, with the June Gold Futures contract up 0.59% or 28.06 to trade at $4,747.66 a troy ounce.
In foreign-exchange trading, EUR/SEK was unchanged at 10.78 (0.00%), while USD/SEK increased 0.28% to 9.20. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.15% at 98.37.
Context and closing observations
The session closed with a clear tilt toward declining shares, led by losses in materials, healthcare and industrial names. ABB's rally to a record close stood out amid the otherwise negative finish for the market. Commodities and currency moves were supportive of a risk-on tilt in energy and gold but did not counterbalance the equity declines across several large-cap industrial and materials stocks.