Blue Chips Lead Gains
March 31, 2011
The Affarsvarlden General Index climbed 11.1 points to 1915.1. The general index rose 11.45 points to 1891.47, and the SX-16 index, which tracks the 16 most traded shares, increased 14.64 points to 1968.16. The market rise was fueled by blue-chip buying with the exception of ball-bearing maker SKF, which shed three kronor, or 2.03%, to 145 after somewhat weaker-than-expected first half earnings. SKF posted half-year pretax earnings at 1.475 billion kronor, down from 1.866 billion the previous year. Analysts had hoped for a six-month pretax profit close to 1.6 billion kronor. Blue-chip shares dominated thin trading. Ericsson rose 1 kronor to 130.5, while Brent slid 0.5 kronor to 139.5. Banks, insurance companies and real estate companies all enjoyed an extra push from the falling yields, and Weekley was the sector's winner with a 4.5 kronor gain, or 3.42%, to 136 for its Class A shares.
